A documentary that combines little known historical fact with a genuinely emotional and heart warming story of solidarity and kindness. Setting the scene, it briefly tells the story of the election, in 1970, of Salvador Allende to the Chilean presidency. His socialist polices were popular with the masses, but less so with big business, much of which was in US hands. Backed by the CIA the Chilean military staged a coup d'etat in '73, using Hawker Hunter jets to bomb the presidential palace. Allende was killed and the fascist regime that succeeded him, led by General Pinochet, imprisoned, tortured and murdered thousands of civilians who were accused of being subversives. Much of the international community reacted in horror at the atrocities taking place in Chile and protest and aid groups sprang up in many countries, including the UK.
Filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra is the son of an exile who had to flee from the horrors of Pinochet, and set out to document the story of one group of Scottish workers and the impact their actions had for the people of Chile. Combining archive footage with interviews, CGI recreations and recent events it's a gripping tale, cleverly edited to build up to a climactic ending.
The aforementioned Hunter aircraft used Roll Royce engines which could only be serviced at their plant in East Kilbride. When union shop steward Bob Fulton realised there were Chilean air force engines on their premises he immediately declared he wouldn't work on them, and asked his fellow workers to join him. With the action supported by the local convenor, the engines ended up being put in crates and left outside. They'd rust there for years.
Despite pressure from the Chilean government, and a lack of support from their own union HQ in London, the workers stood firm and refused to compromise, at the risk of their own jobs. They had no idea if their action would have any practical consequences, but their instincts told them that any act of solidarity would have positive consequences. Sadly they never knew just how big an impact they had made until Bustos Sierra sought them out a few years ago.
He was able to show them the hope their actions brought to many at the time, and even led to the release of some prisoners. There are some unsettling moments, with descriptions of the tortures being inflicted, and an interview with an unrepentant air force general who still felt he was the victim of the East Kilbride men's actions! But it's the gratitude of those Chilean survivors, and joyous realisations of the old Scots engineers that remain in the mind most, those and a ceremony that must draw a tear or two of joy from every viewer.
This is an important film, all the more so when fascism is raising it's head in Europe and the US again. Small actions of resistance can have big consequences, solidarity matters, with a united and unionised workforce a key force for good, and it's everyone's job to resist. This is a story for Scotland to be proud of (in contrast to Britain's shame of having a Prime Minister, Thatcher, who was a friend to the brutal Pinochet and did her best to destroy trade unions) and deserves to be known much more widely. See it if you can.
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