''The Movie Teller'' ( es, La contadora de películas, links=no) is a 2023

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Walter Salles, Rafa Russo, and

Isabel Coixet Isabel Coixet Castillo (; born 9 April 1960 ) is a Spanish film director. She is one of the most prolific film directors of contemporary Spain, having directed twelve feature-length films since the beginning of her film career in 1988, in additio ...

based on the novel by Hernán Rivera Letelier. It stars Bérénice Bejo, Antonio de la Torre,

Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts ...

, Sara Becker, and Alondra Valenzuela. It is a Chilean-Spanish-French international co-production.

Plot

Set in a

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historic mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendigo, ...

in the desert of Atacama in the 1960s, against the backdrop of political change in Chile and the decadence of salpetre mining communities in the country, the plot tracks the plight of María Margarita, a young woman possessing the gift of telling movies, who thereby becomes the resident "movie teller".

Cast

Production

Walter Salles was the driving force behind the project, with an involvement of more than 10 years. The film is an A Contracorriente Films (Adolfo Blanco and Manuel Monzón), Selenium Films (Vincent Juillerat), Altiro Films (Andrés Mardones) and Contadora Films AIE Spanish-French-Chilean co-production, with the participation of RTVE, TVC, and Euskaltel-Telecable and backing from ICAA, ICEC, and Crea-SGR.

Release

The film was scheduled to land a special presentation at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival on 15 September 2023, and opened the

68th Valladolid International Film Festival The 68th Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci) took place from 21 to 28 October 2023, in Valladolid, Spain. '' The Movie Teller'', an adaptation of the Hernán Rivera Letelier's novel, directed by Lone Scherfig, opened the festival. ...

on 21 October 2023. Distributed by A Contracorriente Films, it was released theatrically in Spain on 27 October 2023.

Reception

According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, ''The Movie Teller'' has a 90% approval rating based on 10 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 6.7/10. Steve Pond of '' The Wrap'' wrote that "in its happiest moments", the film "is glorious and yes, a little corny; in its darkest ones, it's still lovely and sad". Pete Hammond of '' Deadline Hollywood'' deemed the film to be "a must-see" for movie lovers everywhere. Maggie Lovitt of '' Collider'' gave the film a B+ rating, deeming it to be "a love letter to the community that grows from the seeds of storytelling".

Accolades

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16th Gaudí Awards The 16th Gaudí Awards ceremony, presented by the Catalan Film Academy, will take place on 4 February 2024 at the complex in Barcelona. Background A record number of 81 productions were presented as candidates to the awards, of which a 40% had ...

, , Best Supporting Actor , , Daniel Brühl , , , , rowspan = "6" , , - , Best Editing , , Bernat Aragonés , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Elisa Sirvent, Patricio Pereira , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Mercè Paloma , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Patricia Reyes, Jesús Martos , , , - , Best Visual Effects , , Bernat Aragonés , , , - , 79th CEC Medals , , Best New Actress , , Sara Becker , , , , , - , rowspan = "3" ,

38th Goya Awards The 38th Goya Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, took place at the premises in Valladolid, Castile and León on 10 February 2024. The ceremony was broadcast on La 1 (Spanish TV channel), La 1 ...

, , Best New Actress , , Sara Becker , , , , rowspan = "3" , , - ,

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

, , Carlos Conti , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Mercè Paloma , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Movie Teller, The 2023 films 2023 comedy-drama films Films shot in Chile Films set in Chile Films based on Chilean novels Chilean comedy-drama films Spanish comedy-drama films French comedy-drama films Films directed by Lone Scherfig 2020s Spanish-language films Spanish-language French films Films set in the 1960s Films about films Films about families 2020s Chilean films 2020s Spanish films 2020s French films