Violeta Went to Heaven

An unconventional biography of a deeply influential figure in world music and complex cultural icon of Chile's history, VIOLETA WENT TO HEAVEN stars Francisca Gavilán as Violeta Parra, multifaceted singer, songwriter, and founding artist of the socially and politically committed nueva canción folk music movement.
A rangy and lyrically subjective adaptation of Ángel Parra’s memoirs of his mother, VIOLETA follows the sinuous currents in the life of a complex character and underappreciated musical genius—a childhood in rural poverty that is graced by music, the groundbreaking quest to revive Chile’s traditional music, wild artistic success abroad and decline at home, the beginning and the end of love. The intimate glimpses of a life intensely lived are anchored by a fictionalized televised interview with an eloquent, canny, charming Parra, a showcase for Gavilán’s intricately textured and fully-inhabited performance.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema (Dramatic) at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.