>>> It’s the first time a Chilean film has been nominated for Best Documentary.
>>> Maite Alberdi, director, and Marcela Santibañez, producer, are also the first women from Chile to be nominated for an Academy Award.
>>> It’s also nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards in the Best Documentary category.
Find out what Maite Alberdi’s reaction was to the historic nomination of here documentary The Mole Agent
The recent announcement hit several milestones:
Firstly, Alberdi and Santibañez are the first women from Chile to be nominated for an Oscar.
Second of all, it’s the first time a Chilean documentary will compete in the Best Documentary category.
And third, it’s the only Latin American film nominated this year.
Chilean presence at the American Academy Awards has been building itself up in recent years since the nomination of No (2012) by Pablo Larraín, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film; A Fantastic Woman (2017), winner in said category; and Bear Story (2016) winner of the Best Animated Short category.
The success of Alberdi’s film reaches forward from 2020 upon an acclaimed premiere at Sundance Film Festival. There, prestigious site Indiewire rated it as “the most emotive spy movie ever made”. Later, it formed part of the official selections at Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) and IDFA (Netherlands).
Meanwhile, in San Sebastián it participated in the “Pearls” section and was awarded with the Audience Award for Best European Film.
The film has also had a successful run in other Spanish festivals such as Abycine, Sevilla, Valladolid, and Gijón.
On to the Independent Spirit Awards
The Mole Agent also continues to vie for the Independent Spirit Awards, the recognitions for independent cinema granted since 1984 in the United States (ceremony scheduled for April 22).
In addition, it will premiere in several countries around the world. Those are the new challenges for one of the most acclaimed, applauded, and endearing films to come from Chile in recent years.
“It’s an honor to have been on the shortlist with such an incredible range of documentary films, and we’re truly grateful to the Hollywood Academy for having chosen us,” says Maite, adding, “For a Latin American crew directed by women, this kind of dream seems impossible, but this year has taught us to see life from a different angle.”
The director also said that “this nomination means, for every senior citizen, that the world still sees and values them, and it helps to remind us that not only is it important to increase the life expectancy, but also the desire to live.”
She ended by saying, “This year, after so many losses, we took another look at our senior citizens and understood that they were living in a pandemic before COVID — the pandemic of loneliness — and we’re very proud to see how ‘The Mole Agent’ has helped families reconnect with their elders.”
