Review of Colonia (2016) by Mark H — 30 Sep 2016

An important film because the events on which it is based constitute a cautionary lesson from our recent history, yet are unknown by most of us. A fictionalized account of events involving a cult in a remote location in the Chilean highlands that was connected to and protected by the Chilean junta led by Augusto Pinochet. Colonia Dignidad, the name of the communal society run by one Paul Shafer Schneider, was used as an underground (literally and figuratively) prison and torture center by the junta. Schneider, a suspected of pedophile in his native Germany, fled to Chile and along with a cadre of religious fanatics founded the cult in 1961. After the fall of the junta, graves of 'desparacedos', leftists and others the Pinochet regime saw fit to murder, were uncovered on the grounds of the colony. "Colonia" presents a romantic and political drama based on known history and fictionalized details of the cult and its leader.

I wish I could draw the line between fact and fiction for you, but I need to learn more. Watch it and you may feel the same way. Wikipedia has an entry for Colonia Dignidad and another for Operation Condor, the wider conspiracy among rightist juntas throughout S. America in the late '60s through '80s. You could do well to start there.