Sebastián Lelio death, Digi Mart USA News (Chile): Chilean director Sebastián Lelio has died at the age of 52 in his homeland of Chile, according to a report from Der Spiegel. The filmmaker, who lived in Berlin for several years, gained international recognition with the film A Fantastic Woman, which made him an Oscar winner.
Lelio’s partner, Amalia Kassai, announced his death on Instagram with “great sadness.” The German-Chilean actress cited “health reasons” as the cause of death. Local media reported that Lelio was found lifeless in his home in Las Condes, in the Santiago de Chile metropolitan area.
Chile’s Minister of Culture, Francisco Undurraga, said he was deeply affected and praised Lelio’s contributions, saying his films had brought the South American country “to the forefront of the audiovisual world.” The Chilean actors’ union, Chile Actores, also expressed shock, calling his death “an enormous loss” for Chile’s culture and film industry.
In 2018, Lelio won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as director of A Fantastic Woman (original title: Una mujer fantástica). It remains the only time the Oscar for best foreign-language film has gone to Chile.
The film, which follows the life of a transgender woman, had won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival the year before.
Lelio first came to Berlin in 2012 as a guest of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) artists’ program for six months. During that time he worked on the editing of his film Gloria, shot in Chile, which premiered in competition at the Berlinale the following year.
The film earned three awards, including the Silver Bear for Best Actress for lead Paulina García.
Lelio remained in the German capital for several years, opening the South American restaurant Gloria in Kreuzberg. Berlin also inspired his later film projects.
In 2017, he told the German Press Agency that what the city had given him with Gloria was “a milestone in our lives,” and that the city had been unexpectedly important.
Born in 1974 in Mendoza, Argentina, Lelio spent his childhood in Viña del Mar, Chile. He studied at the film school in Santiago de Chile.
After making several short films, he released the drama La sagrada familia in 2005, which already reflected his interest in examining prejudice and social hypocrisy from a new perspective.
