Goodbye to Sebastián Lelio, the Oscar-winning director was 52 years old

Chilean director Sebastián Lelio, who won the Oscar for best foreign film for "A Fantastic Woman" in 2018, has died at age 52 for unspecified "health reasons," his family said.

"With great sadness we announce the death, for health reasons, of the director Sebastián Lelio. We are going through a moment of great pain and his memory will remain among us forever," said his partner Amalia Kassai in a statement on Instagram.

Lelio's fourth film, Gloria, also won the San Sebastián International Film Festival's Film in Progress award in 2012. The film premiered at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, to rave reviews, with lead actress Paulina García receiving the festival's prestigious award for Best Actress.

Born in Mendoza, Argentina, he moved to Viña del Mar, Chile, at the age of 2 with his Chilean mother Valeria. It is no coincidence that when he won the Oscar, the Argentine press called him "the Argentine director who won the Oscar". In an interview with Clarín in February 2018, however, he clarified the matter: "I was born in Argentina but technically I'm not Argentine, I'm Chilean. My biological father is Argentine but I grew up in Chile. I have a relationship with him and with Argentina, a place where I often go, but strictly speaking I'm not Argentine." In 2024, Lelio and other filmmakers led a petition against Milei's plans to cut funding to Incaa, Argentina's national cinema and audiovisual arts institute.