On 16 April 2016 a severe earthquake hit coastal Ecuador. José María Avilés’ first longer film is based on this national disaster, but at great distance from the collapsed buildings and buried loved ones. He shows how an unexpected event can suddenly modify all the rules of the game, even in the remote town of Angamarca – the location of the film – where the effects of the quake arrive as distant echoes of hostility in the natural environment.

The Death of the Master

After receiving his last wage and sending it off to his home country, a house painter deliberately abandons his mobile phone on a park bench. Shortly after, a girl finds it and decides to keep it. She takes it as a sign sent directly to her that reveals the presence of the dead. A contemporary ghost story.

The Presence of the Dead

Atahualpa works at the construction of a road to Oriente. In the region there is a rumor of a vast treasure hidden. After his girlfriend left the city, Atahualpa feels a provocation, a distant call that takes him back hundred years.