Chile has announced today that The Club (El Club) will be the South American nation’s official entry to compete in the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year’s 87th Academy Awards. The selection was made by a large group of local film professionals from diverse crafts within the industry.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, this intense drama follows a counselor sent to investigate a group of Catholic priests and nuns who are hiding in a beachside town after being accused of crimes that range from child abuse to human rights violations. The film won the Silver Bear Award at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.
The Club was acquired for U.S. distribution by Music Box Films, the distribution company behind Poland’s Ida, which won the Best Foreign Language Film statuette this year.
Larrín’s previous film NO, starring Gael García Bernal, earned the first-ever Academy Award nomination for Chile in the category. The filmmaker is already working on a new feature titled Neruda, also starring García Bernal, about the life of the famed Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.
The Academy will release a shortlist in December and the final five nominees will be announced in January 2016.
