The unexpected demise Nov. 6 of Chile’s Oscar-winning Sebastián Lelio (“A Fantastic Woman”) cast a pall over the closing ceremonies of both the festival and industry section of the Santiago Film Festival (Sanfic), which wraps Nov. 8. The red carpet portions of the industry and festival ceremonies held Nov. 6 and 7, respectively, were cancelled. Lelio’s family announced that the Cineteca Nacional (National Film Library) would be open to all those who wished to pay their respects this weekend.
Real life also reminded some festival goers of Lelio’s last film, musical “The Wave” (“La ola”), which dealt with Chile’s violent 2018 student protests, when tear gas met some panel participants as they stepped out of a university. The students were protesting the latest move by the right-wing government of President Kast, whose system-wide budget cuts include education. They also called for the resignation of Justice Minister Fernando Rabat to resign over his sentence reductions for child sex offenders and human rights violators.
Among the nine Chilean pics in competition, the Best Picture award went to documentary “Monguen” by the late Antonio Caro who also died suddenly while working on his film, which led his producer to take over. Lelio was filming an adaptation of Alejandro Zambra’s novel “Chilean Poet” for Fabula and was also in pre-production on “Voyagers,” featuring Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones. It deals with a subject rarely addressed in Chilean cinema: Mapuche culture, the culture of the south and characters who don’t often get represented on screen.
In this film, Antonio Caro brings those worlds to life and allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the culture of southern Chile,” Nuñez told Variety. Best Chilean Director honors went to Thomas Woodroffe for his debut feature “Erratics” (“Bloques erráticos”), a subtle film that features French actor Denis Lavant. Lavant playing filmmaker Lucien Castelnau’s ghost who has been released from a glacier after a century into a futuristic Patagonia where technological advances collide with overlooked histories.
A tearful Paulina Garcia, accepting the Best Actress award for her role in “Love is the Monster” paid tribute to Lelio, displaying the Berlin Silver Bear statuette that she won for her performance in his 2013 drama, “Gloria.” Among the international pics in competition, Paraguayan Marcelo Martinessi’s historical drama ‘Narciso” won Best Feature. Based on the eponymous novel by Guido Rodríguez Alcalá, it relates the story of a Paraguayan LGBT rock star who is found dead at the peak of his career. Through the prism of music and art, the drama explores facets of Asunción society during the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner.
Martinessi is one of the country’s most compelling voices, so the award felt thoroughly deserved.” The Best Short recognition. from the 21 shorts in contention, went to Ariel Amor’s “Reina de Puerto,” set in Valparaiso where a 60-year-old trans woman forms a bond with young drifter. The good news for the festival was that it saw a 10%-15% uptick in attendance, with final figures hovering between 35,000 to 40,000. There’s been a real buzz around the festival, and we’ve seen packed cinemas,” said Nuñez.
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