Synopsis for the Film

Not the pillaging Incas, nor the grand Spanish Armada could brave the turbulence of the river Biobio to gain so much as a foothold into ancient Mapuche territory. Even as the marauding 16th century Conquistadors conquered and colonized the rest of the Americas, The Mapuche, last of the unconquered invincibles, a proud tribe that has inhabited land south of the Biobio since time immemorial were the only people that the foreign invaders were forced to recognize as a sovereign nation, if only for matters of sheer self-interest and survival. This bloody cycle of conquest and resistance would repeat itself in 1997 when the Spanish hydro-electric company ENDESA decides to dam the free waters of Biobio for the Raico hydroelectric power plant project. Headed at the top by a high official from Franco’s fascist government who is constantly evasive as slime to Director Mayol’s efforts to confront him, ENDESA has all the trappings of the usual evil corporations- from close links with boot-licking weak-kneed politicians, an opaque and dubious system of functioning, a shadowy history that can make one’s skin crawl and enough PR to make Hell seem a rosy proposition. Through archival footage, in-depth interviews, blasting music that soars and provokes, indicting testimonies and sweeping shots of the rugged Mapuche landscape and the mighty Biobio, Director Mayol channels pure industrial punk anarchy into his film documenting the ancient warriors’ crusade against this inhuman age-old force of diabolical commerce thinly disguised in a swanky new and seemingly respectable avatar. The film reverberates with a frantic anger as it lashes out against the system of corruption set in motion by ENDESA and supported by the Chilean government that not just seeks to displace the proud Mapuche from the land of their histories but destroy the fragile ecology surrounding their river. Switch Off not just documents the agitation and resistance but rather embodies it fiercely and with full-blooded passion. There is no rest, no weariness for the brave foot-soldiers along the banks of Biobio… not until they have claimed back what rightfully belongs to them.

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