Chile’s acclaimed documentary Eternal Memory, directed by Maite Alberdi, made headlines this weekend by clinching the Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film. The ceremony highlighted a strong slate, with Argentina’s Score also earning a nomination, alongside Simón from Venezuela, La pecera from Puerto Rico, and Alma viva from Portugal. The win marks a significant milestone for Alberdi, whose work continues to be celebrated across the Spanish-speaking world and beyond.
In Eternal Memory, the film traces the intimate love story between journalist Augusto Góngora and the actress and former Minister of Culture during the first administration, Michelle Bachelet Paulina Urrutia. The narrative unfolds through the perspective of the woman who remembers the relationship as she battles the advancing memory loss of Alzheimer’s disease. The result is a poignant meditation on memory, time, and the contours of a life shared with someone who remains elusive as memory fades, offering viewers a deeply human portrait that blends devotion with the fragility of recollection.
Maite Alberdi’s ongoing recognition at major awards is notable. This latest nomination adds to a career marked by a steady flow of critical attention, including prior Goya nominations for Best Ibero-American Film and two other documentaries, La once (2014) and El agent topo (2020). The filmmaker’s track record demonstrates a consistent ability to illuminate intimate realities through a compassionate lens, earning respect from audiences and industry peers alike.
Earlier achievements in Alberdi’s career include Mole Agent, a documentary that earned nominations for both the Goya and the Academy Awards. Eternal Memory continues that tradition of cross-border appeal, building on the momentum of a director who understands how to blend intimate storytelling with universal questions about memory, identity, and the ways people remain connected across time and distance.
Looking ahead, the film community kept its gaze on the major stage with the 96th Academy Awards ceremony scheduled for March 10 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Each year’s ceremony brings renewed attention to artists working at the intersection of documentary craft and human storytelling, and Eternal Memory was positioned as a strong contender in the international documentary category, celebrated for its emotional depth and formal restraint.
Alberdi’s approach to documentary subjects is characterized by a steady measure of empathy and a respectful warmth that lets the people on screen speak for themselves. The director avoids melodrama in favor of a clear, intimate realism, while also preserving a lightness that can feel almost mischievous. Those touches of humor contribute a distinctly human tone, ensuring that even weighty topics are approached with honesty and warmth rather than abstraction or sensationalism.
Eternal Memory first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, where it captured the Grand Jury Prize for best international documentary. That early recognition signaled the film’s potential to travel far beyond its Chilean origins, inviting an international audience to engage with its themes of memory and love with renewed immediacy. The festival triumph set the stage for subsequent accolades and continued critical conversation about Alberdi’s work.
Since its Sundance debut, the film has continued to collect praise across major awards platforms. It earned the Forqué Award for Best Ibero-American Film and was celebrated by New York critics with a prize for Best Non-Fiction Film. The film’s critical trajectory culminated in it being ranked among the top five documentaries of the year by the United States National Board of Review, reinforcing its status as a standout work in contemporary nonfiction cinema and cementing Alberdi’s reputation on the international stage.