Sebastian Lelio’s dramedy Gloria will be the Chilean contender for both the foreign-language Oscar and the Spanish Goya awards. The announcement was made by Minister of Culture Roberto Ampuero, The Hollywood Reporter said.
The selection of Gloria does nothing but consolidate Chilean representation in the world’s main awards. “We’re confident that due to the outstanding quality of its editing, acting, script and direction, the film will rightfully continue the path Machuca, La Nana, and No have opened for it, and show the world the development of our film industry as it already did in, for example, the Berlin Film Festival," said Ampuero.
The decision was made by a jury of 30 film industry professionals selected by the country’s Culture Council.
Gloria premiered this year at the Berlinale, where it picked up the best actress Silver Bear for star Paulina Garcia. Lelio’s fourth film sold 143,000 tickets in Chile — a significant number for a local medium-size production — and has already been sold to several territories including the U.S., England, France, Spain and Brazil.
“The touching story of a middle aged woman's quest for love and adventure in modern-day Santiago drew comparisons to Woody Allen for the intimacy of the relationships and to Meryl Streep for the arresting performance of actress Paulina Garcia,” Reuters said
Garcia plays Gloria, a bespectacled 58-year-old divorcee whose children have left home and who goes out to singles night discos, where she dances and flirts and refuses to retreat quietly into the old age.
There she meets Rodolfo, a charming but complex former naval officer in his 60s, who sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind romance that Gloria believes may turn into something permanent.
As they try to forge a lasting bond, their past lives constantly intrude, in what critics saw as a metaphor for Chile as it emerges from the dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet.
