Chicago, la última cuadra
(Chicago, the last block)
Chicago, the last block (2025)
Project in Production
Mourning her mother’s death, a filmmaker returns to her childhood home in the struggling neighbourhood of Chicago, Peru. The humble adobe house of her grandparents, in which the family lived through both happy and tragic times, is on the verge of falling apart. Overwhelmed by a profound sense of loss and fragmented memories, Karoline yearns to recreate scenes from her mother's life, highlighting the fragility of a moment, and the unpredictable twists of fate. Transforming Chicago into a cinematic playground, the filmmaker meets the women her mother left behind—women who, in another world, another time, could have been her and her mother. One night, while sleeping in the crumbling house, Karoline encounters her mother’s spirit.
Sustained in a narration where memories, dreams, and the present seem to merge, Chicago, the last block invites us to preserve the beauty of memories that insist on disappearing, and inspires a profound exploration of love, loss, and the longing for home.
Directed by Karoline Pelikan
Production: María Eugenia Lombardi, Karoline Pelikan
Assistant Director: Carmen Vásquez
Production Assistants: Tamara Sánchez
Editing: Sofía Velázquez, Karoline Pelikan
Script Consulting: Sofía Velázquez, Nic Guttridge
Sound: Willy Illizarbe
Photography: Martín Rebaza, Davis Pérez Rodríguez
Art and Design: Elva Arrieta
Archive Footage: Alfred Pelikan, Gladys Pelikan
Grants & Awards
2022 – Ministry of Peru, DAFO Development Fund
2023 – Conecta Chile, Market-Selection, Winner of the Sheffield DocFest award
2023 – Whickers Pitch, Bursary Fund – Latin America