Sebastián Lelio and Guillermo del Toro will be the only Latin American filmmakers featured at the 44th annual edition of the Telluride Film Festival, which starts tomorrow and runs through Labor Day. Chilean filmmaker Lelio (Gloria) will screen his most recent film Una mujer fantástica / A Fantastic Woman, while Mexican director Del Toro will premiere his most recent fantasy film The Shape of Water.
Starring Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman follows Marina, a young trans woman who works as a waitress and is an aspiring singer. She loves Orlando, a man 20 years older than her, who suddenly dies and, Marina's forced to fight suspicion. Orlando's family don't trust her and see her sexual identity as an aberration and a perversion. Marina battles the very same forces that she has spent a lifetime fighting just to become the woman she is now—a complex, strong, forthright and fantastic woman.
A U.S. production with a cast including Sally Hawkins. Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water tells the story of Elisa, a mute, isolated woman who works in a hidden, high-security government laboratory. Her life changes forever when she discovers a secret, classified experiment that involves a mysterious creature.
