From Sundance Institute to Chile's Oscar Contender: Diego Cspedes and Giancarlo Nasi on the Making of The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo

By Jessica Herndon

When Chilean filmmakers Diego C spedes and Giancarlo Nasi arrived at the Cannes Film Festival this past May, they brought with them a movie that was part fever dream, part social critique, and all heart. The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, C spedes's debut feature, captivated the audience at Cannes, where it took home the Un Certain Regard Prize.

Set in a remote Chilean mining town in 1982, the film follows 11-year-old Lidia (played by breakout newcomer Tamara Cort s), who lives within a fierce, loving queer family. Looming over the area is a mysterious, deadly disease that is believed to transfer between two men through a sustained glance when they fall in love. As fear and violence plague the town, and locals start pointing fingers at Lidia's kin, the young girl sets out to demystify the myth. A poetic and at times surreal modern western, C spedes's film is both brutal and beautiful.

The collaboration between C spedes and Nasi on The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo has roots that stretch back to Sundance Institute, where both honed their craft as fellows in 2021 during our Feature Film Program - C spedes in the Directors and Screenwriters Labs and Nasi in the Producers Lab. For Nasi, founder of the Chilean Film Academy, it wasn't his first brush with the Institute; in 2016, the short Land of the Tides (Marea de Tierra), which he produced, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Now, as The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo prepares for its U.S. release in early December, we speak with C spedes and Nasi, who reflect on the journey from Sundance Institute Labs to Cannes and beyond, on creating a world where drag queens become warriors and children learn cruel lessons early, and on the impact of their film on their country.

LINK:	https://www.sundance.org/blogs/from-sundance-institute-to-chiles-oscar...
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