Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026: Los colonos [The Settlers]

The Instituto Cervantes in Manchester is pleased to present, in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University, a screening of the film Los colonos [The Settlers] as part of the Manchester International Crime and Justice Film Festival 2026. Directed by Felipe Gálvez and released in 2023, this Chilean feature marks his debut as a filmmaker.

At the end of the nineteenth century, sheep-farming estates were rapidly expanding across the Chilean region of Patagonia. In 1893, Segundo, a Chilean mestizo; MacLenan, an English officer; and Bill, an American mercenary, set out on a horseback expedition to demarcate and claim the lands granted by the state to José Menéndez. What at first appears to be an administrative mission soon turns into a violent manhunt of the Ona people, the native inhabitants of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.

The film will be introduced by Dr Daniela Mardones-Bravo, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at MMU. She will be joined for the post-screening Q&A session by Dr Gavin Bailey.