Sebastián Lelio, the Chilean filmmaker whose 2017 film A Fantastic Woman won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, died Friday, November 6, at his home in Santiago. He was 52.
His partner, Amalia Kassai, announced the death on Instagram. "With great sadness we announce the death, due to health reasons, of filmmaker Sebastian Lelio," Kassai wrote. "We are going through a very painful time, and his memory will remain with us forever." Prosecutors in Santiago were investigating the cause of death, according to France24; no specific cause has been publicly disclosed.
Lelio was born in Argentina and raised in Chile. His 2013 film Gloria, a portrait of a woman navigating Santiago's nightlife, earned lead performer Paulina García the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival. A Fantastic Woman repeated that Berlin recognition before winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. The film follows a transgender waitress confronting grief and hostility after her partner's death. France24 reports it contributed to a public debate that helped change Chilean law on gender recognition.
His English language films included Disobedience (2017), with Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, and The Wonder (2022), with Florence Pugh. At the time of his death, he was set to direct Voyagers, a biographical film about Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, with Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones attached, according to The Wrap. He was also reportedly adapting Alejandro Zambra's novel Chilean Poet. The future of both projects is uncertain.
