EL JARDÍN DEL SILENCIO (THE SILENCE ORCHARD) (2011)

The film is a story about the time when big changes happened in Chile because old traditional families that owned the land were being replaced by a new class emerged from trade, in the context of a challenging reform about land property.  It is also a story about family reconciliation and forgiveness.

Entirely set in a real old beautiful rural mansion from the XIX Century, the film is a portrait of Chilean country life back in the mid sixties.

Jose comes back to the old rural family mansion after years of travelling in foreign lands. But the estate goes into bakruptcy and the dead ancestors, including Jose’s mother Teresa, come to blame him for his lack of responsibility. Jose is also blamed by his living son Sebastian for having abandoning him all his life.

Jose is forced to accept these facts and meet the spirit of his dead ancestors, who put him on trial. Jose doesn’t understand what they try to do until its too late and his life completely changes forever: he loses the land and the only possibility he had to reconciliate with his son and dead mother.