Born in Germany on November 3, 1901 under the name of Joseph Bohr Elzer, the young José Bohr arrived with his family to colonize southern Chile in 1904. It was in the city of Punta Arenas where he began his precocious cinematographic and musical career, composing songs including the hymn "Punta Arenas", playing the piano for silent films and making his first film works before he was in his twenties.