Oscars: Chile Picks Manuela Martelli’s ‘The Meltdown’ for the International Feature Race
Chile has chosen Manuela Martelli’s mystery drama “The Meltdown” as its entry for Best International Feature at the 2027 Academy Awards. The selection gives the Cannes-premiered film a chance to compete for an Oscar while drawing attention to concerns over major cuts to Chilean audiovisual funding.
Set at an Andes ski resort after the Pinochet era, the film follows a nine-year-old girl who witnesses troubling events that challenge her loyalties. It is a Chilean-American-Mexican-Spanish co-production; half of this year’s Chilean submissions were directed by women, while the country’s Audiovisual Investment Support Fund has reportedly been cut by 64%.
- Chile selects “The Meltdown” for the 2027 international Oscar race.
- The film is Manuela Martelli’s follow-up to “Chile, 1976”.
- Its selection coincides with deep cuts to Chilean audiovisual funding.
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Chile’s Oscar entry is chosen from films submitted by the country, and it can then compete for the Academy Award for Best International Feature. The category recognises films made outside the United States in languages other than English; selection as a national entry does not guarantee an Oscar nomination.
Manuela Martelli’s drama is set at an Andes ski resort in the period after Chile’s military dictatorship, led by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990. Its co-production partners are Chile, the United States, Mexico and Spain. The choice comes amid reported cuts to Chile’s Audiovisual Investment Support Fund, which helps finance the country’s film and television production.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of protecting or restoring audiovisual funding argue that Chilean cinema is a public good as well as an industry: it tells national stories, creates skilled work and gives smaller countries a meaningful voice abroad. They would say an Oscar submission such as “The Meltdown” shows the international potential that can be lost when funding falls sharply, particularly for independent and women-led productions that may struggle to secure commercial backing. On this view, sustained public support helps preserve cultural diversity rather than leaving it entirely to market demand.
The case against
Supporters of reduced public spending on audiovisual programmes would argue that governments must set priorities across many competing needs, including health, education, housing and fiscal stability. They may contend that film production can also draw on private investment, international co-productions and audience revenue, and that subsidies should be tightly targeted and demonstrably effective rather than assumed to be essential. On this view, an international co-production reaching Cannes and Oscar consideration can suggest that Chilean filmmakers retain routes to global recognition even in a more constrained public-funding environment.
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