TELENOVELA explores the secret lives of a family swept up in the final days of Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile. There is Lucho: bullied by fellow soldiers for his love of poetry, thwarted in his ambitions to become a writer. He seems like a loving father. He seems loveable. And maybe he is. But as TELENOVELA unfolds, other things come to light about Lucho that are less easy to indulge — or forgive. There is Ramona, Lucho's wife: tormented by anxiety, overwhelmed by body image problems. Ramona once hoped to become a telenovela star; she secretly daydreams that she might still get her big break. She seems like an innocent. … But is she? Then there is Pablo, their son: dreamy, gentle, eager to form his own band and write some worthwhile songs. Desperate to be cool… And increasingly, just desperate. These people are deeply human — but Telenovela makes us understand how inhumane they can also be. How easy it is to be complicit in authoritarian regimes — and how personal stories can take on universal significance..
