Calafate, zoológicos humanos

An invitation from Enrique Ramírez, 2025-2026 fellow

19.02.2026

Christian Báez
Peter Mason
Hans Mülchi
Enrique Ramírez

Based on a proposal by fellow Enrique Ramírez, Villa Medici presents for the first time in Rome the film Calafate, zoologicos humans (2011) by Chilean director Hans Mülchi, in which he reveals colonial violence and scientific racism through the investigation of the abduction of four indigenous groups in Chile.

Following the screening, Enrique Ramírez invited Peter Mason for a discussion. Peter Mason is a British researcher and author known for his work on modern Europe and the representation of non-Western peoples – notably as co-author with Christian Baez – who co-wrote the film Calafate – of the book Zoologicos humanos, documenting the history of “human zoos”.

SYNOPSIS

At the end of the 19th century, four groups of natives (a total of 25 people, from infants to the elderly) were abducted from Chile by a German businessman and exhibited like animals at various fairs and public exhibitions across several European cities. Director Hans Mülchi and historian Christian Báez retrace the harrowing and poignant journey of these abducted natives, and surprise with each new discovery – including the remains of five members of the Kawésqar culture unearthed by a team from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Zurich. The restitution of these remains reveals the persistence of racism and disrespect towards indigenous populations. It also testifies to a profound relationship between anthropologists and the descendants of the Kawésqar.

Director
Hans Mülchi

Screenplay
Christian Baez and Hans Mülchi

Production Manager
Margarita Ortega

Photography – Editing
Enrique Ramírez

Original music
Subhira

Sound
Alfredo Ibarra

Dramaturgical consultant
Pamela Cantuarias

Production
Eduardo Mülchi, Cecile Castera, Marisol Palma, Teresa Salinas Peter Mason

This documentary, in which resident Enrique Ramírez took part in the production, is closely linked to his research into the Yagán canoe – the traditional craft of the indigenous people of South America – preserved at the Museo della Civiltà in Rome.

Biography Enrique Ramírez
Enrique Ramírez (1979, Chile) is a 2025-2026 fellow at Villa Medici, living and working between Paris and Santiago de Chile. After studying music and cinema, he joined Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains. Winner of the Prix Découverte des Amis du Palais de Tokyo in 2013, he then exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo, the Museo de la Memoria and the 2017 Venice Biennale. In 2020, he was nominated for the Prix Marcel Duchamp. His work blends video, photography, sound and installation, exploring memory, migration and the sea as a narrative space, where history and the present intertwine in a balance between the poetic and the political.
Biography Hans Mülchi
Hans Mülchi is a Chilean journalist, historian and documentary filmmaker. He studied in Chile, Cuba and Spain. His first short documentary, The Forty Petals of the Rose (1991), won Chile’s National Arts Prize. Since then, he has pursued a career as a director, scriptwriter and producer of documentaries for Chilean television and cinema. Hans Mülchi also has a long academic record. He has taught at several universities in Chile and Brazil. He is currently professor at the Institute of Communication and Image at the University of Chile. He is currently directing two topical feature films: Ocean Wings and Santana.
Biography Peter Mason
Peter Mason has conducted extensive research into the history and analysis of visual representations, particularly in relation to the Americas. In Spanish, he is the author of El Drago en el Jardín del Edén, devoted to the role of the Canary Islands in the transatlantic circulation of images (2018), as well as Ulisse Aldrovandi. A Renaissance naturalist and collector (2024). He is Italian and lives in Rome.
Biography Christian Báez
Christian Báez holds a BA in History and a BA in Aesthetics from the Catholic University of Chile, an MA in History from the University of Santiago, and a PhD in History from the Catholic University of Chile. An academic and researcher, his work focuses on themes linked to the indigenous worlds of the Americas, photography and popular religiosity.

He co-edited the books Fueguinos. Photographies des XIXe et XXe siècles. Images et imaginaires de la fin du monde (2007), Zoos humains. Photographies de Fuegiens et de Mapuches au Jardin d’Acclimatation de Paris, XIXe siècle (2006), El que ríe último…