Oscars: Chile Picks Manuela Martelli’s ‘The Meltdown’ for the International Feature Race

Chile’s Film Academy has selected “The Meltdown” (“El deshielo”) by Manuela Martelli, her post-Pinochet mystery drama set in an Andes ski resort to represent the country in the Best International Feature category at the 2027 Academy Awards. Martelli’s follow-up to her acclaimed drama “Chile, 1976” had its world premiere at Cannes’ prominent strand Un Certain Regard this year.

Said Gabriel Díaz, president of the Chilean Academy: “These have been days of watching excellent national premieres. For the first time in history, half of the submitted films were directed by women, which speaks to an industry that is modernizing and evolving healthily.”

“All received state support and the vast majority are international co-productions, which has boosted the multiplier effect of the audiovisual industry in various sectors of the national economy,” she added.

News comes not long after Mubi announced it was picking up Latin American streaming rights to the drama and the not so welcome news that Chile’s Audiovisual Investment Support Fund had been slashed by 64%. Díaz called on Chile’s Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, which saw an overall 9% cut to its 2027 budget by the administration of new President Jose Antonio Kast, to “strengthen the Audiovisual Fund, without censorship or prejudice.”

“The Meltdown” stars Maya O’Rourke – in her film debut – who plays a nine-year-old at her family’s ski resort who witnesses unsettling events that will test her loyalties. Other cast members are Paulina Urrutia, Mauricio Pešutić, Paula Zúñiga, Marcela Salinas and Lautaro Cantillana.

Written and directed by Martelli, with cinematography by Benjamín Echazarreta, the film is a Chilean-American-Mexican-Spanish co-production involving leading players Ronda Cine, U.S.-based Cinema Inutile, Wood Producciones, Elástica Films, Piano and Fundación Río. Les Films du Losange handles international sales.

U.S. distributor Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release.

Chile’s selection now advances to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will pare down the full slate of submissions to a shortlist of 15 films before announcing five nominees on Dec. 15 and the final five on Jan. 21. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 14, 2027.