“Black Cocaine”: Trailer released for documentary about former DINA chemist Eugenio Berríos

The first trailer for “Black Cocaine,” a documentary about former DINA chemist Eugenio Berríos Sagredo, confirms the film's Chilean cinema release for Nov. 5.

Directed by Cristóbal Valenzuela Berríos, whose previous films include “Stealing Rodin” and “Alien Island,” the documentary reconstructs the controversial biochemist's story through a series of audio tapes he recorded himself.

That discovery allows the film to move away from the traditional documentary format. Instead, it follows Berríos's rise and subsequent fall through his own voice and world, set against an era marked by political violence and clandestine structures.

Before its theatrical release in Chile, “Black Cocaine” will be presented at the Valdivia International Film Festival. The film has also completed a successful run through Latin American festivals.

Berríos fled to Uruguay in November 1991 to avoid testifying in a Chilean trial over the murder of former foreign minister Orlando Letelier.