NZ FILM SOCIETY
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A Fantastic Woman
​Una mujer fantástica

Sebastián Lelio  •   Chile  • ​  2017
105 mins  •  HD  •   M violence, offensive language & sex scenes
​
 ​In Spanish with English subtitles

When her lover dies suddenly, Marina falls under suspicion in this magic-realist Oscar-winner from the director of Gloria. 

“Ravishing… the remarkable trans actress Daniela Vega [gives] a transfixing performance… this is acting at its most fearless” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
DIRECTOR: Sebastián Lelio
PRODUCERS: Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín
PRODUCTION CO: Fabula, Komplizen Film

SCREENPLAY: Sebastián Lelio, Gonzalo Maza 
PHOTOGRAPHY: Benjamín Echazarreta
EDITOR: Soledad Salfate

MUSIC: Nani García, Matthew Herbert
WITH: Daniela Vega (Marina Vidal), Francisco Reyes (Orlando Onetto Partier), Luis Gnecco (Gabriel Onetto Partier), Aline Küppenheim (Sonia Bunster), Amparo Noguera (Adriana Cortés), Nicolás Saavedra (Bruno Onetto Bunster), Antonia Zegers (Alessandra), Trinidad González (Wanda Vidal), Néstor Cantillana (Gastón)

FESTIVALS: Berlin, Toronto

REVIEWS

“It may be a timely film, but it is its timelessness, as well as its depths of compassion, that qualify it as a great one.” – Ryan Gilbey, The Guardian

Chilean director Sebastián Lelio follows his marvellous Gloria (2013) with another resoundingly affirmative portrait of a marginalised woman holding her ground. Santiago bar singer Marina Vidal, played by the sensational trans actress Daniela Vega in her screen debut, is headstrong, vivacious and happily in love. When her lover dies, Marina finds herself, a trans woman living with an older man, immediately suspected of foul play.

The labyrinth of transphobia Marina must navigate is galling to behold, because every insidious blow seems so familiar and credible. It’s in the way Marina registers the humiliations without allowing them to bring her down that Lelio’s film constantly surprises and Vega’s performance enthrals.”

– Bill Gosden, NZIFF 2017

“While it’s politically charged and very much of the moment in terms of its representation of trans-rights issues, what’s perhaps most remarkable is that not a word of direct advocacy is spoken. Any trace of the agenda movie is deftly subsumed in pulsing human drama...
​
The movie’s stunning revelation, however, is Vega.... It’s a transfixing performance, restrained and moving, with a gut-wrenching impact in one hypnotic scene where Marina is forced to pass as a man. Vega even does her own singing, with impressive ability. No less than Paulina García’s astonishing work in Gloria, this is acting at its most fearless. The movie represents a huge leap in terms of trans narratives onscreen, but by any standard, it’s a powerful drama of a woman whose suffering never dims her determination to keep moving forward.”

– David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter


FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

New Plymouth   
Wednesday, 16 February, 6:00pm

​Palmerston North   

Wednesday, 2 March, 6:00pm

Tauranga   

Thursday, 10 March, 6:30pm

​Whanganui   

Monday, 21 March, 7:00pm

Canterbury   
Monday, 28 March, 7:00pm

Dunedin   
Wednesday,, 13 April,7.30pm

Wellington   
Monday, 16 May,, 6:15pm

Hamilton   
Monday, 30 May, 8.00pm

​
​Queenstown   
Tuesday, 7 June, 8.15pm

Nelson   
Tuesday, 28 June, 6:00pm

Auckland   
Monday, 4 July, 6:15pm







Celebrate CONTEMPORARY CINEMA  >> 

Film Societies of Aotearoa New Zealand

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New Zealand Federation of Film Societies  |  PO Box 9544, Te Aro, Wellington, NZ  
Phone: +64 4 385 0162  |  Fax: +64 4 801 7304  |  Email: 
michael@nziff.co.nz
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SOCIETIES
    • AUCKLAND
    • HAMILTON
    • TAURANGA
    • NEW PLYMOUTH
    • WHANGANUI
    • PALMERSTON NORTH
    • CARTERTON
    • WELLINGTON
    • NELSON
    • CANTERBURY
    • TIMARU
    • QUEENSTOWN
    • DUNEDIN
    • WESTPORT
  • 2022 SEASON
    • ROBERT ALTMAN
    • SCANDINAVIA
    • BREAKING THROUGH
    • CONTEMPORARY WORLD
    • CLASSIC & CULT
    • NZ FILM
    • FRENCH CONNECTIONS
    • AFRICAN CINEMA
    • GERMAN CINEMA