Felipe Gálvez’s Cannes Un Certain Regard Fipresci winner The Settlers has been selected as Chile’s Oscar submission.
‘The Settlers’: Cannes Review
The anti-colonialist western will receive its North American premiere at TIFF next month and will play in the Main Slate at New York Film Festival.
The Settlers takes place in Chile at the start of the 20th century as a wealthy landowner hires three horsemen to mark the perimeter of his property and open a path across Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition, comprising a young Chilean mestizo, an American mercenary and a reckless British lieutenant, soon turns into a “civilizing” raid.
The cast includes Mark Stanley, Camilo Arancibia, Benjamín Westfall, Alfredo Castro, Mishell Guaña, Agustín Rittano, Mariano Llinás, Sam Spruell, Adriana Stuven, Luis Machín, and Marcelo Alonso.
Mubi will distribute the film theatrically in North America and has rights for the UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, and India. Full release plans and dates will follow.
Gálvez said, “It is a great honour for me to learn that The Settlers has managed to captivate the Chilean Film Academy. I feel a profound responsibility in representing our country during such an important year, filled with remarkable films and talented filmmakers. They showcase the diversity and quality of our cinematography.”
Chilean Academy representative Lorena Giachino Torréns said, “The producers conducted their campaigns at the highest level, and having a film contending for the Goya Awards and another for the Oscars only speaks of our diversity and quality. It is evident that the prestige of Chilean cinema on the international stage is no longer sporadic; it has firmly established itself.”
The Settlers was produced by Giancarlo Nasi, Benjamín Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda, Emily Morgan, Thierry Lenouvel, and Stefano Centini. It was co-produced by Katrin Pors, Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin, Kristina Börjeson, Anthony Muir, Ingmar Trost, and Fernando Bascuñán.
Executive producers are Alex C. Lo, Constanza Erenchun, and Amy Gardner.
The film is presented by Cinema Inutile (USA), produced by Quijote Films (Chile), Rei Cine (Argentina), Quiddity Films (UK), and Volos Films (Taiwan), in co-production with Cine Sud Promotion (France), Snowglobe (Denmark), Film I Väst (Sweden), and Sutor Kolonko (Germany), in association with: Finite Films (UK), mk2 Films (France), and Dulac Distribution (France).
Seabastian Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman won the Oscar in 2018 for Chile. Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent earned an Oscar nomination in 2021 and Alberdi’s Sundance and Berlin entry The Eternal Memory, along with Pablo Larrain’s upcoming Venice world premiere El Conde, would have been among the other Chilean contenders for this year’s submission slot.
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