17/04/2025 - The Chilean filmmaker's debut film is an indictment of LGBTQI+ discrimination, set in the Chilean desert during the 1980s, a time when AIDS was an uncontrollable epidemic

In the early 1980s, in a dusty and hostile mining town in the Chilean desert, eleven-year-old  Lidia grows up in a loving but marginalised queer family. Its members are blamed for a mysterious illness that is beginning to spread. Rumoured to be transmitted with a mere glance—when one man falls in love with another. Lidia then embarks on a quest for revenge, facing violence, fear and hatred, where her family is her only refuge and love could be the real danger. This is the fascinating synopsis of The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, the first feature film written and directed by Chile's Diego Céspedes which will premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival.

A passport to global recognition for a talented 30-year-old filmmaker who, until now, had only made two short films - both of which were also selected for the French film festival. El verano del león eléctrico (2018) won the Cinéfondation First Prize, while The Melting Creatures (2022) was screened at Critics' Week.

For all these reasons, as Céspedes told CinemaChile, the French festival is “the closest thing to church for filmmakers. It's where the directors you most admire get together and go to show their latest work.” He adds that “getting to Cannes always fills me with excitement and an even deeper love for cinema. It's the best platform we could have premiered on and this is not just for me, but also for my entire team. The cast is incredibly talented. You have to see these new actresses and actors!”

Its main performers are the young Tamara Cortés, Matías Catalán (Bitter Gold), Paula Dinamarca (Nona. [+see also:
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“The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo aims to explore the relationship between Lidia and Alexo, who, although siblings, behave like daughter and mother. Through everyday details, endless rumours and a teenage perspective, we are immersed in a journey of exploration where Lidia confronts the ignorance of a community that tries to bury the reality of HIV-AIDS and homosexual relationships under a ridiculous myth,” Céspedes commented during his participation in the Ikusmira Berriak 2020 programme in San Sebastián (read more), where he presented the project. There, it was awarded the Irusoin prize for post-production.

The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, which won the co-production award at the 2020 Torino Film Lab, as well as took part in festival labs such as Sundance, Cannes and Venice, is a production by Damien Meghergi and Justin Pechberty for the French company Les Valseurs, Jonas Weydemann for the German company Weydemann Bros Films, the Spanish company Irusoin, Giancarlo Nasi for the Chilean company Quijote Films and Benoît Roland for the Belgium company Wrong Men. It is also supported by ARTE France Cinéma. Its international sales will be managed by Charades, and it will be distributed in Spain by BTeam Pictures.

(Translated from Spanish)