A hot summer. A private district with an enormous park. An abandoned plot of land in the suburbs and an uncontrollable wave of smoke spark uncertainty and chaos.
A 24-year-old ex-university student from a well-off family wanders the streets of Santiago de Chile when his father, his only remaining close relative, disappears without warning, leaving him locked out of the house. In the streets he tries to find a home among people he doesn't know and others from his former life, hounded by memories of his past and a strange illness that seems to be rapidly consuming his health.
A mosaic of the experiences suffered by new immigrants to Argentina, linked through three stories taking place at the La Salada Fair. People of different races struggle with loneliness and feeling far from home: a Korean father and his daughter preparing for an arranged marriage, a young Bolivian freshly arrived in the country looking for work, and a Taiwanese DVD seller who wants a girlfriend to keep him company.
Jorge is mugged one afternoon by Kalule, a neighbourhood thug. His son decides to get his stolen belongings back and tackles Kalule, who retaliates by shooting the boy. The son survives the attack and the delinquent is sentenced to two years in prison. On getting out of jail Kalule swears revenge. The police ignore the family's pleas for help, and just when Kalule seems to be on the point of getting his much yearned-for revenge, Jorge decides to take the law into his own hands.
When the rainy season begins Helena will give birth. Her adoptive mother and brother gather food and wood in the jungle to take them through the coming weeks of rain and maternity. Others dry fish, some harvest their crops, and in the middle of everyday actions we see stories of pain and loneliness that fill this far-off, inescapable place. The day of rest comes round and the neighbours set out to accompany the birth. The rain starts. Life continues.
A man skedaddles from Buenos Aires towards the Pantanal in Brazil's Mato Grosso with a bag full of money. He plans to repay a debt outstanding with the brother he lost touch with years ago. The tale intertwines with documentary testimonies of people who say they met him on the way. Pantanal is a South American road movie midway between fiction and documentary.
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