Film Archive

The Man of the Future

Official Selection - Competition 2019 / El hombre del futuro / Chile, Argentina 2019

Michelsen, an elderly truck driver, sets out on his last trip driving freight to the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia. The long and arduous drive through the magnificent, luxuriant natural landscape, past lakes and extensive glaciers, ultimately becomes a recapitulation of his life when he unexpectedly happens upon his adult daughter, whom he hasn’t seen since her childhood.

Synopsis

The enchantingly beautiful landscape of Chilean Patagonia forms the backdrop for the story of an unexpected encounter between father and daughter after years of separation. When their paths cross as they both head in different trucks along the road leading to the southernmost point of the country, elderly Michelsen and young Elena, now almost an adult, are given an opportunity to get to know one another, to reassess their past and their mistakes, and perhaps to find a way back to one another. The fine-spun psychological study of credible characters, the sparing dialogue and close-ups of facial expressions largely captured in motion – in the truck’s cab, at roadside stops or in the lush, vibrant lakeside rainforest – lend this minimalist film a vital, authentic charm.

Eva Zaoralová (2012)

About the film

96 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Felipe Ríos / Screenplay Felipe Ríos, Alejandro Fadel / Dir. of Photography Eduardo Bunster / Editor Nicolas Goldbart, Valeria Hérnandez / Art Director Amparo Baeza / Producer Giancarlo Nasi / Production Quijote Films / Coproduction Sagrado Cine, La unión de los ríos / Cast José Soza, Antonia Giessen, Roberto Farías, María Alché / Contact Quijote Films, Brigitta Portier

About the director

Felipe Ríos (b. 1982). Filmography: Das Golem (2003, short), The Man In the Suitcase (2005, short), Gabinete (2018, doc. series), The Emancipating Opera (2019, short), The Man from the Future (2019)