Machuca

A compelling classic set in 1973, the last year of Salvador Allende's socialist government. 12-year-old Gonzalez from a white middle-class family in Santiago befriends Pedro, a new student who lives in the shantytown near their school and is of Mapuche descent. Gonzalez gets to see another side of society while hanging out with Pedro and his neighbour Silvana, who spend time after school going to demonstrations to sell flags and cigarettes. Can this friendship exist in a country where the political divisions are mainly visible along lines of ethnicity and social class?

Andrés Wood used his own experiences at a British private school to make his film, which he dedicated to the idealistic priest who was his school's director in the early 1970s. He also modelled the character of Father McEnroe on him, who manages to open the eyes of the young Gonzalez through his words and actions.