Cielo (film)

Cielo
Film poster
Directed byAlison McAlpine
Written byAlison McAlpine
Produced byAlison McAlpine
Carmen Garcia
Paola Castillo[1]
CinematographyBenjamin Echazarreta
Edited byAndrea Chignoli
Music byPhilippe Lauzier
Production
companies
Second Sight Pictures
Argus Films
Errante Producciones
Distributed bySeafar North
Release date
  • October 6, 2017 (2017-10-06) (NYFF)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguagesSpanish
English
French

Cielo is a Canadian-Chilean documentary film, directed by Alison McAlpine and released in 2017.[2] Filmed in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the film is about the myths, stories, existential queries and the beauty of the night sky in the region.[3]

The film premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2017,[2] and was released in its final version in 2018. [4] It has been presented in over 400 international film festivals and cinemas,[5] as well as winning several awards.[6],[7],[8] Named as "One of the 10 best documentaries of 2018" by Esquire[9] and one of the "best films of 2018… that you didn't see" by The Guardian,[10] Cielo has also been critically acclaimed by publications such as Variety,[11] The Village Voice,[12] The Globe and Mail,[13] Le Devoir[14] and Indie Outlook.[15]

Awards and nominations

Year Organization Category Nominated person Result Ref.
2018 Hot Docs Best Documentary (Canadian Spectrum) Alison McAlpine Nominated [16]
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Best Documentary Alison McAlpine Nominated [6]
Byron Bay International Film Festival Best Cinematography Benjamín Echazarreta Won
Best Documentary Alison McAlpine Nominated
Best Film Alison McAlpine Nominated
Salem Film Fest Award for Cinematography Benjamín Echazarreta Won
Banff Mountain Film Competition Award for Creative Excellence Paola Castillo, Alison McAlpine, Carmen Garcia, Sean Farnel Won
Santiago International Film Festival Kinêma Award Alison McAlpine Won
2019 Trento Film Festival Audience Award Alison McAlpine Won
Bilbao Mendi Film Festival Best Cinematography Alison McAlpine Won
Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma Most Successful Film Outside Quebec Alison McAlpine, Carmen Garcia. Nominated [17]
Best Cinematography in a Documentary Benjamín Echazarreta Nominated
Best Documentary Film Alison McAlpine, Carmen Garcia. Nominated
Best Sound in a Documentary Alison McAlpine, Rodrigo Salvatierra, Carlo Sanchez, Miguel Hormazábal, Claudio Vargas, Mauricio López, Andrés Carrasco Nominated
Ulju Mountain Film Festival Grand Prize Alison McAlpine Nominated [6]

References

  1. ^ "CIELO". Film Forum. Retrieved January 11, 2026.
  2. ^ a b Kate Erbland, "‘Cielo’ Trailer: Awe-Inspiring NYFF Documentary Premiere Reaches for the Heavens — Watch". IndieWire, September 21, 2017.
  3. ^ Kevin Crust, "Review: The sky above Chile comes alive in experimental documentary ‘Cielo’". Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2018.
  4. ^ Cielo at IMDb
  5. ^ "Alison McAlpine". DC/DOX. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
  6. ^ a b c "Cielo (2017) - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
  7. ^ "Astronomy Doc Wins AC Magazine Award at Salem Film Fest 2018". The American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
  8. ^ "Documental "Cielo" gana premio Kinema 2018". www.cultura.gob.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-09-15.
  9. ^ Schager, Nick (December 19, 2018). "The Best Documentaries of 2018". Esquire. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  10. ^ Charles Bramesco, Jordan Hoffman, Jake Nevins, Pamela Hutchinson, Zach Vasquez, Benjamin Lee, Peter Bradshaw, Catherine Shoard, Steve Rose, Hubert Adjei-Kontoh, Andrew Pulver and Amy Nicholson (December 27, 2018). "The best films of 2018 … that you didn't see". The Guardian. Retrieved January 15, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Schager, Nick (August 9, 2018). "Film Review: 'Cielo'". [[Variety (magazine)|]]. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  12. ^ Hoffman, Jordan (August 15, 2018). "The Eye-Popping "Cielo" Invites You to a Party in the Sky". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  13. ^ Wheeler, Brad (August 8, 2018). "Review: Cielo offers a serene, existential escape to the Atacama Desert". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  14. ^ Lavoie, André (August 11, 2018). "Cielo". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  15. ^ Fagerholm, Matt. "Dazzling "Cielo" Provides Dose of Spiritual Awareness". Indie Outlook. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  16. ^ "Cielo". Hot Docs. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  17. ^ "Gala Québec Cinéma : 1991 de Ricardo Trogi mène la course avec 16 nominations". Ici Radio-Canada, April 11, 2019.