Toronto International Film Festival

There’s a scene in Huacho, the feature-length debut from Chilean director Alejandro Almendras, when the camera closes in on the face of an elderly woman selling blocks of homemade cheese by the side of the road. The shot is held for an unconventionally long time, with no movement or dialogue to break up the seconds ticking by. But in those moments, the audience is able to read the hard-earned wrinkles on the woman’s face, and we can begin to absorb the profundity of a life where a...