“Ciudad”: Delfina Guzmán Says Goodbye to the Stage With a Final Project at 98

At 98, Delfina Guzmán is preparing to leave the stage with “Ciudad,” a short film that brings together music, memory and images recorded in different parts of Santiago. The project follows the Chilean capital as it changes over time, through the eyes of one of the country’s veteran actresses.

“

I look fabulous!

Guzmán’s reaction after seeing the finished production was characteristically direct: “I look fabulous!” The film was directed by her son, pianist and composer Juan Cristóbal Meza, who said that his mother “already feels like resting.”

The project began during the pandemic, when mother and son talked about Santiago and its transformations. It first took shape as a theatrical concert, which premiered at the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center in 2024. The audiovisual version now brings the idea closer to the atmosphere they had originally imagined.

“

She already feels like resting.

Meza told El Mercurio that the short-film format is “more faithful to itself.” He said it better preserves what they had conceived, including the atmosphere, while allowing them to refine material recorded under difficult conditions, much of it during the early morning. In his view, the result is more precise than performing the work live.

“

I believe the project is more faithful to itself in this audiovisual format, as a short film.