A Fantastic Woman

Daniela Vega is transcendent in this unflinching, Academy Award-winning portrait of a woman fighting for her dignity.

When cisgender divorcée Orlando (Francisco Reyes) suffers an aneurism and falls down the stairs to his death, a seemingly tragic accident becomes even more so as the events that follow begin to rapidly escalate for his younger partner, Marina (Daniela Vega).

A waitress and singer on the rise, her sexuality and socio-economic status immediately place her under suspicion from not just Orlando’s spiteful family but the local police. Finding antagonists everywhere she turns, she has to fight not only to maintain her privacy and innocence, but her dignity and respect.

Curator Note

Premiering at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival – where it won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay and the Teddy Award – A Fantastic Woman went on to have a huge impact during the 2018 awards circuit. Its win for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards was significant, but so too was Vega’s inclusion in the ceremony where she became the first transgender person to present an award in Oscar history.

Filmmaker Sebastián Lelio has long been a favourite on the international film festival circuit, with previous titles Gloria (2013) and Disobedience (2017) critically acclaimed. A Fantastic Woman, however, might be his masterwork not just because of its timeliness upon release but because of the way it – and Vega’s star-making performance – has endured in the years since.