The Sunday Magazine

Documentary: Black Box (Chile)

Silence can take many forms. Between people, it can occupy a space that, left unattended, grows over time. But breaking a long-held silence can have consequences of its own....
Silence can take many forms. Between people, it can occupy a space that, left unattended, grows over time. But breaking a long-held silence can have consequences of its own.

People who suffered under the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile know this truth all too well. For seventeen years after the military coup that toppled Salvador Allende, Chileans lived under a regime of censorship, so silence was commonplace. But last fall, when Chileans marked the fortieth anniversary of the coup, many who had long been silent began talking. Francisco Urbina was one of them.  His son, Tomas, hung on every word. Tomas Urbina's documentary is called Black Box.