The mystery of Manuela Martelli’s period Collapse It was selected to represent Chile in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2027 Academy Awards, which will be the 99th Academy Awards. The Chilean Film Academy revealed the decision on Wednesday.
The film is the second feature film from actress-turned-writer/director Martelli (God won’t help, the future), will be released in Chile on September 3. Kino Lorber has acquired US distribution rights and plans a US theatrical release in early 2027, followed by a digital, educational and home video release.
Collapse It had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where Hollywood Reporter It appeared as a hidden gem.
A follow-up to Martelly’s political thriller set in the era of General Augusto Pinochet Chile ’76 Stars Maya O’Rourke, Maya Rae Domagala, Saskia Rosendahl, Jakub Gerzal, Paulina Urrutia and Mauricio Pechotic. Set in 1992, just two years after the end of the Pinochet regime and in the midst of Chile’s “economic miracle,” nine-year-old Inés is staying at her grandparents’ ski resort in the Andes while her parents attend a business conference in Seville. She befriends Hanna, a German teenager training to be a competitive skater while rebelling against the constraints of her structured life. When Hannah disappears without a trace and her mother enlists Ennis’s help as a translator, the search for the missing teen raises questions and uncovers hidden truths that test the young girl’s loyalty and echo the dark history of her country.
Collapse It is produced by Alejandra Garcia for Ronda Cine in Chile, Alex C. Lo for Cinema Inutile in the US and Andres Wood for Wood Producciones in Chile. It was co-produced by María Zamora for Elastica Films in Spain, Julio Chavezmontes for Piano in Mexico, and Pablo Díaz for Fundación Río in Chile.
“My main interest is to return to history through the characters and through their emotions and experiences, rather than treating history with a capital H,” Martelli said with THR Earlier this year. She remembers being 9 years old in 1992, a time when “there was this transformation in Chile, which was a very strange and complex moment. For me, it was interesting to intertwine the transformation of a child and the transformation of a country and the world as well.”
THRReview for Collapse He noted that “truth is a rare commodity in a slow-burning mystery,” and concluded: “Muddled relationships, patriarchal agents, colonial history—Martelli weaves these narrative threads with skill and artistry. Through the mystery of one person’s fate, the young hero awakens to certain ground rules and discovers a haunted place.”
Chile has won the Academy Award for Best International Film once before, for 2017’s Sebastian Lelio Wonderful woman. Pablo Larraín 2012 film no It was also nominated in this category.
