The Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences has announced that the abortion courtroom drama Belén, directed by actress-filmmaker Dolores Fonzi, will represent the South American country in the international race at the 98th Academy Awards.
The film, which had its world premiere last week in the main Golden Shell competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival, is based on a true case. Set in Tucumán in 2014, it tells the story of a young woman who is admitted to a hospital with severe abdominal pain, unaware that she is pregnant. She wakes up handcuffed to a gurney and surrounded by police. Accused of having self-induced an abortion, she spends two years in detention before being sentenced to eight years in prison for aggravated homicide. A female lawyer from Tucumán fights for her freedom with the support of thousands of women and organizations who unite to change the course of history.
In addition to Fonzi, the film stars Camila Plaate—who won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival—Laura Paredes, Julieta Cardinali, Luis Machín, and César Troncoso.
Dolores Fonzi’s second feature after Blondi is vying to become the third Argentine film to win the Academy Award for Best International Feature, after Juan José Campanella’s The Secret in Their Eyes and Santiago Mitre’s Argentina, 1985.
