''Dawson Isla 10'' is a 2009 Chilean

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, written and directed by

Miguel Littín Miguel Ernesto Littin Cucumides (born 9 August 1942) is a Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian father, Hernán Littin and a Greek mother, Cristina Cucumides. Career Miguel Littin dir ...

, a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. The screenplay is based on ''Isla 10'', a book by Sergio Bitar about his experiences as a political prisoner; "Isla 10" was the substitute name their guards imposed him during his imprisonment.

Plot

The

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

led to the overthrow of President

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

and the rise to power of

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

in Chile. This film depicts the former members of Allende's cabinet, who were apprehended and confined in a political prison on

Dawson Island Dawson Island () is an island in the Strait of Magellan that forms part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, 100 km south of the city of Punta Arenas in Chile, and part of the Municipality of Punta Arenas. It is located southeast of Brunswic ...

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

, which had been transformed into a concentration camp. In the early 20th century, the camp was used to relocate

Selk'nam The Selk'nam, also known as the Onawo or Ona people, are an indigenous people in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina and Chile, including the Tierra del Fuego islands. They were one of the last native groups in South America to be enco ...

and other indigenous groups from the main island, in order to put an end to their interference with the large sheep ranches that had been established, as they persisted in hunting in their former territories. In 1973, Pinochet's government also imprisoned hundreds of other suspected communists and political dissidents on Dawson Island. Under the strict control of the Chilean Navy, these men struggled to survive the freezing temperatures and severe conditions.

Cast

Benjamín Vicuña Benjamín Vicuña Luco (born 29 November 1978) is a Chilean actor and entrepreneur. Biography Vicuña was born November 29, 1978 to father Juan Pablo Vicuña Parot and mother Isabel Luco Morandé. He is a descendant of Benjamín Vicuña Macke ...

as Sergio Bitar * Bertrand Duarte as Miguel Lawner * Pablo Krögh as

José Tohá José Tohá González (February 6, 1927 – March 15, 1974) was a Chilean journalist, lawyer, and politician of the Socialist Party (PS). Biography Tohá was born in Chillán, the son of Spanish immigrant José Tohá Soldavilla and of Brunilda Go ...

Cristián de la Fuente Cristián Andrés de la Fuente Sabarots (; born March 10, 1974) is a Chilean-American actor, presenter, model and producer. Early life Cristian De la Fuente was born in Santiago, Chile, the only child of chemist Hugo de la Fuente (died 1996) an ...

as Teniente Labarca * Sergio Hernández as Comandante Sallay *

Luis Dubó Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

as Sargento Figueroa * Caco Monteiro as

Fernando Flores Carlos Fernando Flores Labra (born January 9, 1943) is a Chilean engineer, entrepreneur and politician. He is a former cabinet minister of president Salvador Allende and was senator for the Arica and Parinacota and Tarapacá regions between 20 ...

* Horacio Videla as Dr. Arturo Jiron * Matías Vega as Osvaldo Puccio * Andrés Skoknik as

Orlando Letelier Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar (13 April 1932 – 21 September 1976) was a Chilean economist, politician and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A refugee from the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, Letelier ...

* Elvis Fuentes as

Clodomiro Almeyda Clodomiro Almeyda Medina (February 11, 1923 – August 25, 1997) was a Chilean politician. A leading member of the Socialist Party, served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile from 1970 to 1973 during the Presidency of Salvador Allende. Biog ...

* Sergio Allard as Aristóteles España

Submissions

The film was nominated for

Best Spanish Language Foreign Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

at the 24th edition of

Goya Awards The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sc ...

External links

* * {{Chilean submission for Goya Awards 2009 films 2000s Spanish-language films 2000s political drama films Films about the Chilean military dictatorship Films about politicians Films directed by Miguel Littín Films set in 1973 Films set in 1974 Chilean drama films 2009 drama films 2000s Chilean films