Machuca

Colour, 35 mm
Chile, Spain, 2004, 120 min
Section: Forum of Independents
Oficiální stránky: www.machucacine.cl

Synopsis

Chile 1973. Two children, aged 11: timid Gonzalo Infante comes from a well-to-do family living in a fashionable part of town; Pedro Machuca, a peasant’s son, gets by in a shantytown. These two children, who have nothing in common, will meet at school thanks to the initiative of an idealistic Catholic priest, Father MacEnroe. His aim is to integrate children from underprivileged sectors of the population into the superior Catholic school he heads in Santiago. His aim is to teach respect and tolerance at a time when the country’s political and social climate is degenerating.

About the director

Andrés Wood (b. 1965, Santiago) majored in economics in Chile. In 1990, he studied film at NYU. In 1992, he made his first short, Idilio, then Reunión de la familia in 1994. His first feature, Historias de fútbal, was released in Chile in 1997. La fiebre del loco, his second feature, made in 2000, was selected for the 2001 Venice Film Festival.