Carlo Guillermo Proto is a Chilean-Canadian director who was raised in both Quillota, Chile and Mississauga, Ontario.[1] His work focuses on the unique interplay between identity and human experience in relation to issues of geography, ethnicity, and perceived disabilities.[2]

Carlo Guillermo Proto
Born (1979-09-22) September 22, 1979 (age 45)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EducationMel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
OccupationFilm director
Years active2005–present

Early life

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Between the ages of 18 and 25, Carlo Guillermo Proto was heavily involved in the Toronto theater community. As the general manager and company producer for Toronto's Cahoots Theatre Projects, Mr. Proto produced several plays across Canada. During his time with the company, he created The Cahoots Summer Youth Project, a subsidized summer camp for low-income families.[3] The director's influences include many playwrights and directors who were based out of Toronto, including John Mighton, Dan MacIvor, Daniel Brooks, and Guillermo Verdecchia.[4] After winning the "Best Emerging Local Filmmaker" award for his first short film Pura Sangre in 2005 at the Alucine festival in Toronto, Proto moved to Montreal in order to attend Mel Hoppenheim school of cinema.[5]

Film career

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In 2005, Proto founded the production company The Handshake Productions, which operates out of Montreal, Quebec. The company is interested in developing and creating documentary and fiction films with a focus on identity and socio-political issues.[6] In 2013, Proto was selected to be a member of the jury of three for the Quebec City Film Festival.[7] Proto's first short film, Pura Sangre (2005) is based on a South American travelogue and explores society's preoccupation with sociological and biological bloodlines.[8] Proto's next short film, Peggy, Denis, and Lauviah (2007) attempts to reconstruct the perception of cinema by giving a super 8 camera to a blind family of three.[9] El Huaso (2012), Proto's first feature-length documentary film chronicles Gustavo Proto, the director's father, as he struggles with short term memory loss. Gustavo has retired from his business and seeks solace in his homeland of Chile by pursuing his childhood dream by competing as a "huaso" in rodeos. Gustavo awaits the results of medical tests which will determine whether he has Alzheimer's. As he has long professed he would end his life is it became unbearable, he begins making preparations for his death while his family struggles to accept his decision to end his life. The film explores the pivotal point in one man's life where he takes it upon himself to shape his own mortality.[10] Film critic, professor and former head of Mexico's National Cinémathèque, Gerardo Salcedo Romero, named El Huaso one of the best Latin American documentaries of 2012.[11]

Filmography

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Features

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Year Title Director Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
2012 El Huaso Yes Yes Yes Yes Himself Documentary. Co-written with Gustavo Guillermo Proto. Story Editor Guillermo Verecchia. Co-producers Serego Kirby and Arianne Schaffer
2017 Resurrecting Hassan Yes Yes Yes

Shorts

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Year Title Director Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
2005 Pura Sangre Yes Yes Yes Documentary
2007 Peggy, Denis, Lauviah Yes Yes Yes Documentary

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Film Result
2005 Toronto Alucine Film Festival Award Best Emerging Local Filmmaker Pura Sangre Won
2011 Recontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montreal Award Best Documentary El Huaso Nominated
2012 Quebec City Film Festival Award Best Feature Film El Huaso Won
2012 Quebec City Film Festival Award Audience Award for Best Canadian-Quebecois Film El Huaso Won
2012 DocsBarcelona Award Best International Documentary El Huaso Nominated
2012 Rendes-Vous du Cinema Quebecois Award Best Quebec Documentary El Huaso Nominated
2012 Hot Docs International Film Festival Award Best Canadian Documentary El Huaso Nominated
2012 Lima International Film Festival Award Best Latin American Documentary El Huaso Nominated
2012 Monterrey International Film Festival Award Best International Documentary El Huaso Nominated
2012 Santiago International Film Festival Award Best Chilean Film El Huaso Nominated
2012 Hamptons International Film Festival Award Golden Starfish Award (Documentary Feature) El Huaso Nominated
2012 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival Award Grand Jury Prize Best Documentary Feature El Huaso Nominated
2012 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival Award Best Documentary Director El Huaso Nominated
2012 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival Award Best Documentary Cinematography El Huaso Nominated
2012 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival Award Best Documentary Film Editing El Huaso Nominated
2012 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival Award Best Documentary Sound El Huaso Nominated
2012 Guadalajara International Film Festival Award Best Latin American Documentary El Huaso Nominated
2012 Cleveland International Film Festival Award Best Documentary - Audience Award El Huaso Nominated
2013 Cinema Tropical Award Best Documentary El Huaso Nominated
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References

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  1. ^ "HRAFF Interviews the Filmaker [sic] behind 'El Huaso', Carlo Guillermo Proto". HRAFF Arts & Film Festival. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  2. ^ "Q&A: El Huaso Director Carlo Guillermo Proto". CBC. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  3. ^ "Nominees and Jury Announced for 2007 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre Celebrating Directors". CNW. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  4. ^ "Q&A: El Huaso Director Carlo Guillermo Proto". CBC. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  5. ^ "Q&A: El Huaso Director Carlo Guillermo Proto". CBC. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  6. ^ "About". The Handshake Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  7. ^ "La soirée de clôture du FCVQ! Un franc succès sur toute la ligne, ce festival!". Info-Culture. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  8. ^ "Films". The Handshake Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  9. ^ "Films". The Handshake Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  10. ^ "Films". The Handshake Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  11. ^ "TOP LATIN FILMS OF 2012, THOSE THAT WERE UNDERRATED, AND WHAT TO WATCH IN 2013!". Vancouver Latin America Film Festival. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2013.