Dario
María Cartagena is a seasonal worker in the fruit fields of an arid valley in northern Chile, to bring sustenance to her daughter and disabled husband. During the hard workday she overcomes abuse and mistreatment driven by a powerful motivation: saving enough money to visit her brother’s grave, one of the disappeared after the Pinochet coup.
Professor Ulmenes
A man’s enthusiasm turns into greed and causes trouble for his family.
Chilean soldiers try to survive in the desert after they are attacked by Peruvian troops. The 17 survivors are held together by the Captain. The Lieutenant is a civilian attorney who clashes with the Captain as he pursues the valuable rights to nitrate deposits in the area. When the fighting was over, 25,000 soldiers from Chile, Peru and Bolivia had perished while trying to secure the coveted mineral rights for foreign companies.
