The writer Diamela Eltit (b. 1949) and the artist Lotty Rosenfeld (1943–2020) cowrote Un filme subterráneo to be read as part of a presentation that included the screening of a pornographic film during the Jornadas de la Mujer at the Centro Cultural Mapocho in 1982. Due to the subject matter of the film (which portrayed a sexual relationship between a dog and a servant girl, in which the servant’s employer also played a part), it was ultimately not shown at the conference. The text was published in Ruptura: documento de arte (1982), and edited by CADA (Colectivo Acciones de Arte), of which both Eltit and Rosenfeld were members. [For other texts by these authors in this publication, see: "Socavada de sed" (doc. no. 731842); "Trazado de cruces sobre el pavimento" (doc. no. 731835)]
The Jornadas de la Mujer were organized by the Círculo de Estudios de la Mujer. It was dedicated to research and study of women’s issues, and functioned between 1979 and 1983. During that time it produced various types of conferences, talks, workshops, seminars and “forum theater” productions to promote the group’s research and other works. The group also generated a number of publications. One of the best-known feminist organizations during the Pinochet era, it also functioned as a space for resistance to the military dictatorship. After 1983, its members split off into different groups while continuing to support the feminist movement.
The text written by Eltit and Rosenfeld sheds light on the ideological subtext of pornographic movies without presenting them in a negative light or criticizing its audiovisual production, which they treated as simply another form of cultural expression. The two women were members of CADA, but also worked together outside the group, collaborating on projects over the course of four decades. They contributed to Mujeres por la vida (1983), a group that organized protest performances and ephemeral events in public spaces as feminist statements and as a form of resistance to the authoritarian government in power at the time. They produced the video installation Traspaso cordillerano (1981), for which they were awarded the Premio Salón, VII Concurso de la Colocadora Nacional de Valores, at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Chile. In 1991, they presented the documentary Chile: Historia del Sufragio femenino (1889–1949), directed by Rosenfeld and written by Eltit. They also produced ¿Quién viene con Nelson Torres? (2001), which was premiered at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de la Universidad de Chile.
