News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Mon. Mar. 5, 2018: A Latin American film in Spanish last night won an Oscar Award at the Academy Awards 2018, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
‘A Fantastic Woman,’ or ‘Una Mujer Fantástica,’ the 2017 Chilean drama film directed by Sebastián Lelio, made history Sunday night, winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Film on the heels of its Golden Globe win for Best Foreign Language Film earlier this year.
Lelio’s drama, which stars trans actress Daniela Vega in a breakthrough role, is now the first-ever Chilean film to win an Oscar.
In her acceptance speech, Lelio called the win “an amazing gift,” and thanked the cast, especially actor Francisco Reyes and Vega, as well as her many friends and artists.
“I share this with all of you tonight,” she added.
The film tells the story of Marina, a young trans-gender woman, waitress and aspiring singer, and Orlando, who is 30 years older than her, and owns a printing company. The two are in love and planning for the future but after celebrating Marina’s birthday one evening, Orlando falls seriously ill.
Marina rushes him to the emergency room, but he passes away just after arriving at the hospital. Instead of being able to mourn her lover, suddenly Marina is treated with suspicion. The doctors and Orlando’s family don’t trust her. A detective investigates Marina to see if she was involved in his death. Orlando’s ex-wife forbids her from attending the funeral. And to make matters worse, Orlando’s son threatens to throw Marina out of the flat she shared with Orlando.
For most of Orlando’s family, Marina’s gender identity is an aberration and a perversion, so the young waitress has to struggle for the right to be herself. She battles the very same forces that she has spent a lifetime fighting just to become what she is now – a complex, strong, forthright and “Fantastic Woman.”
The movie premiered at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival last where it won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Teddy Award, an award given to films with a LGBT theme. The film was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and currently holds a 94 percent “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 146 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10.
