Between 1862 and 1885, the Mapuche Indigenous people rose up to defend their homeland against invading outsiders. For these acts of bravery, they were deported, tortured and massacred at the hands of the Chilean and Argentinian military. These painful chapters of history, once suppressed and buried, are seen in a new light in Paula Rodríguez’s moving documentary. The film takes the form of a travelogue led by Margarita Canio Llanquinao, a Mapuche academic; after discovering the testimonials of Katrulaf, a Mapuche prisoner of war, in a Berlin archive, Llanquinao embarks on a journey that links the past to the present, the personal to the collective.

Retracing Katrulaf’s deportation route, Llanquinao crosses the Patagonian pampas and the Andes mountain range. Captured in impressionistic wide shots, the visual splendour of the landscape is on full display: vast, dusky deserts give way to lush forests. The sight of animals peacefully roaming free, however, sharply contrasts with the sombre voiceover, taken from Katrulaf’s written interviews. Separated from his own family and stripped of his valuables, he endured harrowing treatment inflicted by captors, including being tied up every night for more than six months. The juxtaposition of sound and image conjures the dark violence that lurks beneath the pastoral calm of the stunning vistas.

Katrulaf’s experiences are interwoven with Llanquinao’s own ruminations on her relationship to her ancestors, as well as other Indigenous stories gleaned on the road. From education workers determined to keep Mapuche history alive to elders who gather in remembrance of the dead, Rodríguez’s film offers a powerful chorus of diverse voices. Together, they form a vital oral history that not only survives governmental repression but also carries urgent warnings for future generations.

• Relentless Memory is on True Story from 22 May.