Ellen Cantor's 'Pinochet Porn' and the Politics of Love in a Fascist Age

Sabeth Buchmann's essay for Afterall revisits Ellen Cantor's prescient work, particularly her unfinished Super 8mm film 'Pinochet Porn', completed posthumously by friends and colleagues. The film centers on five children growing up under Augusto Pinochet's 17-year dictatorship, which began with a US-backed coup on September 11, 1973. Cantor, who died in 2013 at age 51, blends autobiography, documentary, and fiction to explore the entanglement of love, sex, and fascism. The essay contextualizes the work within the rise of proto-fascist autocrats like Trump and Bolsonaro, arguing that Cantor's foresight remains disturbingly relevant. The accompanying publication, edited by Lia Gangitano, Fatima Hellberg, and Jamie Stevens, features an image-text montage that mirrors Cantor's interweaving of authorial voice and fictional narration. The book includes Cantor's 80-part drawing and collage series 'Circus Lives from Hell' (2004), production notes, and stills from the film. Buchmann highlights Cantor's use of queer aesthetics, referencing artists like Kathy Acker, Bette Gordon, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and her schizoanalytical dramaturgy that breaks down patriarchal power structures. The film's soundtrack mixes rock and pop with folk songs by Víctor Jara, murdered days after Pinochet's coup, serving as a reminder of fascist oppression. The essay concludes that Cantor's work offers a radical vision of love as a central motif, questioning whether tragedy is a choice.