Director: Felipe Carmona
Prison in the Andes locks a former Pinochet-era security squad inside a strangely comfortable compound and asks what happens when men who caused unbearable suffering face the possibility of losing their privileges.
What is Prison in the Andes about?
Deep in the mountains outside Santiago, a former officer of the Chilean secret police shares a spacious residence with seven former colleagues, each convicted for crimes committed under military rule. Their days pass in relative comfort, with private rooms, shared meals, and a routine that resembles communal living more than incarceration, until word arrives that the facility may close and its residents scattered to standard penitentiaries. Rather than accept that fate quietly, the group closes ranks, drawing on old habits of intimidation and control to protect the only life they have left. Felipe Carmona's drama stays inside the walls of this unusual institution, tracking how loyalty, denial, and fear operate among men who once held absolute power over others and now cling to whatever authority remains to them.
Cast & crew
Andrew Bargsted anchors the ensemble as one of the compound's residents, playing opposite Hugo Medina, Bastián Bodenhöfer, and Mauricio Pesutic as fellow inmates whose alliances shift as the threat of relocation grows. The largely Chilean cast brings a restrained, procedural tone to scenes that could easily tip into melodrama, letting silences and small gestures carry the weight of decades-old crimes rather than raised voices or courtroom speeches.
Context & significance
Prison in the Andes draws on the real history of special detention arrangements granted to former members of Chile's security services after convictions tied to the Pinochet dictatorship, a subject still debated in Chilean public life. Felipe Carmona, making his feature debut, frames the story less as courtroom history and more as a close character study of institutional privilege under pressure. The film is a Chile-Brazil co-production shot largely within a single, contained location, and it made the rounds on the festival circuit after its 2023 premiere.
Where & how to watch
Prison in the Andes streams on K-Time with a Farsi dub and Farsi subtitles, making the film's dense dialogue accessible to Persian-speaking viewers. The page itself is free to browse, and watching the film only requires a free K-Time account login, with an interface built around a Farsi-first viewing experience for the diaspora.