Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio, who directed the Oscar-winning film “A Fantastic Woman,” died Friday at his home in Santiago. He was 52 years old.
His partner, actress Amalia Kassai, posted on Instagram, saying his death was “due to health reasons.” According to Chilean newspaper El Mercurio Online, Kassai contacted police after being found at his home in the Las Condes neighborhood of Santiago.
“We are going through a very painful time and his memory will stay with us forever. He was a wonderful person who contributed to Chilean culture at important times in its history,” Kassai wrote.
“As a family, we ask for privacy and consideration during these difficult times,” said the statement signed by the Lelio Kassai family and the Campos Watt family.
“A Fantastic Woman,” starring Daniela Vega as a trans woman involved in the accidental death of her older boyfriend, won the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2018 as well as the Independent Spirit Award for best international film. The film’s focus on gender identity helped lead to reforms for trans identification in Chile.
Lelio’s other films include “The Wonder” and “Gloria Bell”, an English-language remake of his previous film “Gloria”, which won numerous awards. “Gloria Bell” starred Julianne Moore and John Turturro in the story of a free-spirited woman who searches for love in the dance clubs of Los Angeles.
Her 2017 English-language film “Disobedience” starred Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams in the story of a woman who returns to an Orthodox community where she reunites with a childhood friend.
Lelio was born in Argentina and moved to Chile when he was 2 years old. He began his career at “La Sagrada Familia”. His next feature films were “Navidad” and “The Year of the Tiger.”
More recently, he directed “The Wave”, a musical comedy inspired by feminist mobilizations in Chile.
Lelio was working on the film “Chilean Poet,” based on the novel by Alejandro Zambra.
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