Huacho

A family struggles to make the best of a life of poverty in this drama from Chile. Clemira (Clemira Aguayo) and Cornelio (Cornelio Villagran) are a middle-aged couple living in the rural community of Chillan with their adult daughter Alejandra (Alejandra Yanez) and her young son Manuel (Manuel Hernandez). Over the course of the film, we watch the four members of the family as they first share breakfast and then make their way through another day. The electricity has been shut off in the family's home due to non-payment, and Alejandra tries to persuade her boss to give her an advance on her salary so she can have it turned back on; she also sells some treasured belongings to raise some extra cash. Clemira sells food on a busy street to make money, but finds it's hard to get a fair price for her wares. Manuel goes to school and has trouble with wealthy kids who treat him like an outcast; later he spends what little money he has on video games that only make him feel more lonely. And Cornelio does farm work, tending to crops and swapping stories with his fellow field hands as he tries to stay focused on the future. Huacho was the first feature film from writer and director Alejandro Fernandez Almendras, and was screened as part of the Critics Week series at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.