Chile selects Manuela Martelli's 'The Meltdown' for 2027 Oscar International Feature race

Chile’s official Oscar submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 2027 ceremony is Manuela Martelli’s period mystery, The Meltdown. The Chilean Film Academy announced the choice on Wednesday, noting the film’s world debut in the Un Certain Regard lineup at Cannes, where it was highlighted as a hidden gem. Set two years after the end of Pinochet’s rule, the story follows nine-year-old Inés at her grandparents’ Andean ski resort as she helps search for a missing German teen.

The movie will hit Chilean screens on Sept. 3 and will be released in the United States by Kino Lorber in early 2027, with subsequent digital and home-video distribution. Production credits include Alejandra García (Ronda Cine), Alex C. Lo (Cinema Inutile), Andrés Wood (Wood Producciones) and co-producers María Zamora (Elastica Films), Julio Chavezmontes (Piano) and Pablo Díaz (Fundación Río). Chile previously won the category with Sebastián Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman in 2017.