Maite Alberdi, the director of the acclaimed documentary ‘The Mole Agent,’ shared that despite her groundbreaking Oscar nomination as the first Chilean woman, she continues to encounter unexpected inquiries about her accomplishments in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I just received a question, ‘When are you going to make a film?’ And it’s like, I make films,” Alberdi revealed in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter at Xcaret in Riviera Maya, Mexico, before the Platino Awards. “According to these uninformed commenters, the assumption is that documentaries are not ‘real films.’ I’ve already made five films, and I will continue making films.”
Alberdi has consistently drawn inspiration from real life, citing its abundant material as a driving force in her work.
“Reality is so powerful, and it’s so full of stories and experiences that I really don’t need to write something because everything is already written,”Alberdi said ahead of the Platino Awards ceremony, where ‘The Eternal Memory’ won a best documentary award.
Nevertheless, she is embarking on a new journey with her upcoming project: gearing up for her first narrative feature, an adaptation of Alia Trabucco Zeran’s novel ‘Las Homicidas.’ Published in 2019, the book delves into the murders perpetrated by four Chilean women and the societal reactions to both the crimes and the individuals behind them. Alberdi conveyed her enthusiasm for guiding this production in a manner distinct from her past documentary endeavors.
“You control everything. You write the script, the actors do what you ask them to do and the problems can be resolved by money,” she explained. “Everything is so controlled.”