2005 Film Index Back to Main Site		Back Machuca Winner of 8 international awards and top prizes including: Mexico City; Philedelphia; Vancouver; New Zealand; Bogota; Portland; Lima Official Selection: Seattle Int'l; Cannes; San Diego Latino; Copenhagen Int'l; Cleveland Int'l; Hong Kong Int'l; Toronto Int'l Chile / 121 minutes Spanish w/ English subtitles Directed by Andrés Wood Written by Eliseo Altunaga, Roberto Brodsky, Mamoun Hassan, Andrés Wood Cinematography by Miguel Joan Littin M. Miguel Angel Miranda and José Miguel Tobar Machuca is the internationally-acclaimed story of two schoolboy friends and the dramatic political upheaval that shapes and transforms their friendship. In Chile in 1973, as the leadership of socialist president Salvador Allende was coming under fire from the nation's military leaders and the leaders of several powerful Western nations (including the United States), many in the country were inspired to address the issue of the vast gulf between Chile's rich and poor. Father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbran), one of the headmasters of an exclusive private school, decides to confront this matter by giving a handful of poor children a full scholarship. Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna) is one of the new students, and while he and his fellows are picked on by the school's bullies, Pedro is a brave kid who stands his ground, and he's soon befriended by Gonzalo Infante (Matías Quer), whose rich parents live in Santiago's wealthy suburbs. Gonzalo's connection to Pedro and his family grows stronger; he particularly likes Uncle Willi (Alejandro Trejo), who cheerfully sells flags to Chileans on both sides of the political fence. He also develops a crush on Silvana (Manuela Martelli), Pedro's older cousin. But the political and economic differences that are dividing the country begin finding their way into the school, threatening to tear apart the newly forged friendship. Hailed as a masterpiece across the globe, Machuca deftly weaves together the stories of friendship and revolution into a truly delightful and original piece of cinema magic. Machuca has been extremely well received right here in the Pacific Northwest, dazzling the lucky few who made it into screenings at the Seattle, Vancouver and Portland International Film Festivals. At the latter two, the film earned the distinction of First Prize in the category of "Audience Award" .