Although there is more than half a year left until the ceremony (March 14, 2027), the race for the 99th edition of the Oscars is already open. This time of year, between August and September, is when each country selects its representative to compete in the Best International Feature Film category.
Chile is no exception: this Monday the Chilean Film Academy opened the voting process for its members to choose the local candidate. This time 11 films were registered, a high number, but not the highest in history, Gabriel Díaz, president of the institution since 2025, tells Culto. What is unprecedented is that half correspond to films directed by women.
“This important signal is partly the result of incentives in production that have sought to level a playing field historically favorable to men. It is also influenced by the creation of good practice protocols that have made Chilean audiovisual production an increasingly safe and professional territory,” Díaz opines.
The president of the entity highlights a second point: the presence of international co-productions. “This shows the importance of co-production agreements to attract foreign investment and create jobs in the audiovisual industry and also demonstrates how Chilean talent arouses interest in other territories, generating alliances that create conditions for our country brand to position itself internationally. We hope this favorable scenario of industrial and cultural exchange continues to be promoted with foresight,” he indicates.
To qualify for the Oscars, it is established that the applicants must be released between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026. Meanwhile, for the Goyas, a process also enabled from this week and in which ten films participate (the only one not appearing in both races is Il cileno), the dates are from November 1, 2025, to December 31, 2026.
In both cases, members of the Chilean Film Academy can vote until Monday, August 24. The winners will be announced on a date to be defined.
Here we review the participating titles:
The second feature film by Nayra Ilic García is a coming of age set in the early 90s in the north of the country. Its protagonist is Celeste (Helen Mrugalski), a teenager navigating loss and facing a difficult maturation process. It received special mentions at Tribeca and Guadalajara, and the Best Actress award at the Havana International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. Released in Chilean cinemas in April 2026.
After debuting with 1976 (2022), Manuela Martelli presents a film set in a ski resort in 1992. While her parents have gone to Spain as part of the Chilean delegation to the Seville Universal Exposition, Inés (Maya O’Rourke) befriends a German skier (Maia Rae Domagala). Everyone becomes a potential suspect when the young athlete disappears without a trace. It had its world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Festival, where Martelli became the first Chilean selected in Un Certain Regard with a fiction feature. Cinema release date: September 3, 2026.
The second feature film by the British-German filmmaker is loosely based on the novel of the same name by María Edwards. In 1988, a girl named María lives during the week in a boarding house in Osorno and returns home by a lake on weekends. When her parents’ friends visit from Santiago, María feels even more forgotten. It premiered at the 2025 Sanfic edition. Released in cinemas in May 2026.
In this adaptation of The Third Reich, the posthumous novel by Roberto Bolaño, Alicia Scherson returns to work around the literary world of the renowned author. The story follows Udo (Dan Beirne), an American fan of strategic war games, and his partner, Ingrid (Lux Pascal), during a vacation on the Chilean coast in 1989. While she focuses on going out and meeting local youth, he becomes obsessed with Elsa (Aline Küppenheim), the enigmatic owner of the hotel where they stay, and with a man known as The Burned (David Gaete). Its world premiere was at the 2026 Tribeca Festival. Commercial cinema release date: to be announced.
The first fiction feature by Juan Pablo Sallato is a thriller based on the book Shoot the Flock. Secret Chronicle of the Crimes in the FACH against Bachelet and Others, by Fernando Villagrán. In the days following the 1973 coup d’état, Captain Jorge Silva (Nicolás Zárate) struggles between duty and conscience when his aviation school becomes a detention center. It debuted worldwide at the 2026 Berlin Festival. Cinema release date: October 1, 2026.
Loosely inspired by the book Aldo Marín, Cannon Fodder, by Juan Cristóbal Guarello, the film follows Aldo (Camilo Arancibia), a young militant expert in making explosives. After going into exile and forcibly leaving his family behind, he survives thanks to odd jobs in Turin, Italy. His life changes course when he meets a doctor linked to anarchist groups who offers him to return to his old trade of making explosive bombs for revolutionary groups. It will have its world premiere next week at the 2026 Locarno Festival. Commercial cinema release date: to be announced.
Dominga Sotomayor’s new film is based on The Bitch, by Colombian author Pilar Quintana. On a remote wind-swept island off the Chilean coast, Silvia (Manuela Oyarzún) makes a living collecting seaweed and shares a quiet life with her partner. When she adopts Yuri, an abandoned puppy, her days fill with joy, love, and a tenderness that awakens in her a longing for motherhood she has repressed for years. It debuted at the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2026 Cannes Festival. Commercial cinema release date: to be announced.
Filmmaker Ricardo Valenzuela draws on his childhood memories to create this comedy with which he debuts as a director. Set in 1994 in Puerto Montt, the film follows Margarita (Patricia Cuyul) and Cucho (Héctor Morales), a couple trying to sell cell phones in rural and remote areas. It premiered at the 2025 Sanfic edition. Released in cinemas in November 2025.
A graduation feature from Cine UDD that mixes black comedy and science fiction. Its protagonist is Ricardo (Ramón Gálvez), a young punk who spends his days attending concerts with his two best friends and caring for his grandmother, who suffers from fibromyalgia. One day, after trying a strange alcoholic brew, he acquires superpowers and ends up involved in a global-scale plot. It was awarded at FICValdivia 2025 and at the 2026 Berlin Festival edition. Released in cinemas in March 2026.
The director’s second film released in 2026 begins with a family going on vacation with their dog. An accident in the middle of the desert leaves the mother, Isabel (Paola Giannini), seriously injured. The father, Miguel (Daniel Muñoz), trying to save his daughter, embarks on a personal journey with his child to find answers. Three months later, Isabel wakes from a coma and starts a personal search to rebuild her family. It had its world premiere at the 2026 Málaga Festival. Released in cinemas in June 2026.
This documentary recounts that in 2021 northern Chile was the scene of a violent anti-immigrant march, with tents and belongings of families burned in Iquique. The directing duo collects the testimony of those who continue arriving despite the adversities, and of the inhabitants of the territory living amid social conflict and other inhospitable conditions. It debuted internationally at the 2025 Hot Docs edition (Canada). Released in cinemas in April 2026.
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