LA FABULOSA MÁQUINA DE COSECHAR ORO
THE FABOULOUS GOLD HARVESTING MACHINE
Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza / Chile, Netherlands / 2024 / 77 min / Colour
For hours each day, Totò, age 60, works his claim in the Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia, searching for precious gold dust. He’s been a gold prospector for forty years, breaking rocks while standing in thick sludge, spending a lifetime chasing a fortune that has never come. Each month, he manages to find between twenty and fifty grams of gold. Is it really worth all that effort? Totò is weary, and his health has suffered as he’s already had a stroke. It should be time to retire, but he hasn’t yet met the pension requirements. That’s when his son Jorge, a young cowboy, comes up with an idea: to build a “fabulous gold-harvesting machine” that might ease his father’s burden. Through the story of Totò’s daily labor and his son’s efforts to help him, the director explores the bond between a father still driven by the glint of gold fever and a son who didn’t follow in his footsteps, but wants to support him all the same. The majestic mountains of Patagonia serve as the backdrop to this tender family story.
Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza
A Chilean filmmaker and founder of 55 SUR Media. His documentaries explore remote landscapes, and his work has received recognition at international festivals. His debut documentary The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine premiered at Hot Docs 2024 in Toronto and was selected by the IDFA Institute in Amsterdam. He is also involved with ARCA, a program supporting filmmakers in developing their documentary projects.
