Sebastián Lelio, the acclaimed Chilean filmmaker whose 2017 drama A Fantastic Woman won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, died on Friday, November 6, 2026, in Santiago, Chile. He was 52. His partner, actress and director Amalia Kassai, confirmed his passing in a social media statement posted on behalf of the family, noting that his death followed undisclosed health issues.

News of the sudden death has prompted an outpouring of grief across the international film community. At the time of his passing, Lelio was in the middle of production on a new feature film adaptation of Alejandro Zambra's novel Chilean Poet (Poeta chileno), according to Yahoo Entertainment and CNN Chile.

Statements and Circumstances of His Passing

In a joint statement signed by the Lelio Kassai and Campos Watt families and shared via Instagram, Kassai addressed the loss of the director and his impact on his home country.

"With great sadness, we announce the death, following health complications, of Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio," the statement read in a translation published by Deadline. "We are going through a time of profound grief, and his memory will remain with us forever. He was a wonderful person who made significant contributions to Chilean culture at important moments in its history. As a family, we ask for privacy and consideration during these difficult times."

While the family's announcement cited health reasons, specific medical details have not been publicly disclosed. Differing details have emerged across international and local outlets regarding the immediate circumstances of his death. According to Deadline and AFP, republished by NAMPA, Lelio died in Santiago after experiencing general health complications. Meanwhile, El País and Variety report that the filmmaker was found dead at midday in his residence in Las Condes, a district in eastern Santiago, with Variety noting that Kassai contacted police after discovering him at the home.

According to CNN Chile, the Eastern Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office assigned Chief Prosecutor Jorge Reyes to lead standard investigative procedures at the residence.

A Historic Academy Award and International Breakthrough

Born on March 8, 1974, in Mendoza, Argentina, Sebastián Lelio Watt moved to Chile with his mother at age two. He spent his youth in various Chilean cities, including Cholguán, nearly 500 kilometers south of Santiago, and briefly studied journalism before attending the film school at the University of Chile, according to El País.

After directing several short films—including 4, Cuatro, Smog, and Ciudad de maravillas—and music videos, Lelio made his feature directorial debut with The Sacred Family (La sagrada familia), which was shot in three days and screened across more than a hundred festivals, winning 28 national and international awards.

He followed that success with Navidad, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009, and the post-earthquake drama The Year of the Tiger (El año del tigre), starring Luis Dubó, which debuted at the Locarno Film Festival in 2011.

Lelio achieved his first major global breakthrough in 2013 with his fourth feature, Gloria, a romantic drama about a 58-year-old divorcée navigating life and love in Santiago. Developed in part with his cast and distributed in the United States by Roadside Attractions, the film earned lead actress Paulina García the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Four years later, Lelio cemented his place in cinema history with A Fantastic Woman (Una mujer fantástica). The 2017 drama stars Daniela Vega as a transgender waitress and nightclub singer who must fight her late older partner's family—played by Francisco Reyes and others—for basic dignity and the right to mourn after he suddenly dies.

Vega originally served as a script consultant on the project before Lelio cast her in the lead role. The film debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won three awards, including the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay. It went on to win the Independent Spirit Award, the Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film, and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2018 ceremony, marking the first time a Chilean feature film won the Oscar in that category. Accepting the statuette alongside his team, Lelio remarked, "We are Chileans, we like to act in a pack."

From English-Language Features to His Final Projects

Following the global reception of Gloria and A Fantastic Woman, Lelio expanded his career into English-language filmmaking while maintaining a rigorous international production schedule. In 2017, the same year A Fantastic Woman debuted, he released Disobedience, a romantic drama set in London's Orthodox Jewish community starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams.

In 2018, he directed an English-language remake of his earlier hit titled Gloria Bell, which was distributed by A24 and starred Julianne Moore and John Turturro.

In 2022, Lelio co-wrote and directed the psychological period thriller The Wonder for Netflix. Set in the Irish Midlands in 1862, the film starred Florence Pugh as an English nurse sent to observe an 11-year-old girl, played by Kíla Lord Cassidy, who claims to survive without food. The Wonder premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and earned a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding British Film of the Year.

Throughout his career, Lelio worked closely with Chilean producers Pablo Larraín and Juan de Dios Larraín, who produced nearly all of his feature films. He returned to Chilean themes in 2025 with The Wave (La ola), a protest musical inspired by the 2018 feminist university demonstrations in Chile.

The film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and starred Kassai.

What this means for film audiences and the broader industry is the sudden interruption of one of Latin America's most prolific contemporary voices. Lelio and the Larraín brothers were actively collaborating on the production of Chilean Poet, based on Alejandro Zambra's 2022 novel published by Viking, when the director died. It remains unclear how the studio and producers will proceed with the unfinished feature.

Will the production of Poeta chileno continue?

Producers and project representatives have not yet announced what will happen to the production of Chilean Poet (Poeta chileno). Lelio was mid-production on the adaptation alongside his longtime producing partners Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín when he died on Friday.

Has a specific cause of death been released?

No specific medical cause has been disclosed. The statement released by his partner, Amalia Kassai, and his family stated only that he died due to health complications, and asked the public and media for privacy during their period of mourning.

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