Francisco Reyes

In 1897, in Lota, Chile, in the face of long days, low pay, debts to the company store, unsafe and deadly working conditions, and widespread child labor, men try to establish a miners’ association at one of the largest coal mines in the world. They must face Davis, an iron-fisted and murderous supervisor; there’s at least one turncoat, willing to inform on their fellow workers; and, there are passions on all sides, including one between Fernando, a leader of the miners, and Virginia, the godchild of the mine’s owners. Can the miners win a victory, and at what cost? Baldomero Lillo, a grocery clerk, records it all.