Paulina García Alfonso (born 27 November 1960), better known as Pali García, is a Chilean actress, stage director, and playwright. García debuted on television with a small role in the

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

'' Los títeres'' (1984), but she was soon known for her theatre direction and for her various performances in films such as ''Tres noches de un sábado'' (2002), ''Cachimba'' (2004), ''Casa de remolienda'' (2007) and '' Gloria'' (2013). García has received four nominations for the Altazor Awards, winning on one occasion, and three for the APES Awards — the Chilean Arts and Entertainment Critics Awards—winning twice. In February 2013 she won the prestigious

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress () was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the fil ...

at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

for her performance in the movie '' Gloria'', directed by

Sebastián Lelio Sebastián Lelio Watt (born 8 March 1974) is a Chilean director, screenwriter, editor and producer. He received critical acclaim for directing the films '' Gloria'' (2013) and '' A Fantastic Woman'' (2017), the latter of which won an Academy Awa ...

.Chilean Paulina García wins best actress at Berlin Film Fest
, ThisisChile.cl, 27 February 2013; retrieved 16 March 2013.Paulina García gana Oso de Plata a mejor actriz por "Gloria" en Festival Internacional de Cine de Berlín
LaTercera.com, 16 February 2013; retrieved 1 April 2013. In 2016, she appeared in

Ira Sachs Ira Sachs (born November 21, 1965) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. Sachs started his career directing short films such as ''Vaudeville'' (1991) and ''Lady'' (1993) before making his feature film debut with ''The Delta (film), The Delta'' (19 ...

' film, '' Little Men''.

Biography

Born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, García studied

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

, where she graduated with a degree in theatre arts and later with diplomas in theatre direction and

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

. García made her debut at Catholic University's theatre in 1983 in ''¿Dónde estará la Jeanette?'' ("Where could Jeanette be?") by Luis Rivano, a work for which she received an APES Award for best actress. Since then, she has acted in over thirty productions including ''Cariño malo'', by Inés Margarita Stranger, ''El tío Vania'', by

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, ''The Trojan Women'', by

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

, ''El lugar común'', ''Las analfabetas'' and ''BBB-Up''. The year following her theatre debut, García appeared on television as Adriana Godán in the TV series '' Los títeres'', a role she shared with actress Gloria Münchmeyer. The first work she directed was ''El continente negro'' ("The Dark Continent") by Marco Antonio de la Parra for which she received an APES Award nomination for best director in 1996. A grant from the National Arts Development Fund (Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cultural de las Artes, FONDART) allowed for the financing of productions such as ''Lucrecia y Judith'' by the same author, and '' Look Back in Anger'' by

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

. She has also directed at national theatre festivals on three occasions, directing works by authors such as Alberto Fuguet and Celeste Gómez. García has taught acting at the theatre school of the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, at Fernando González night school, at the University for the Arts, Sciences, and Communication and the University for Development. Between 1997 and 2001, she founded and formed a part of the Theatre Directors Association (Asociación de Directores de Teatro, ADT). In television, of note is her performance in ''Cárcel de Mujeres'' ("Women's Prison") as Raquel, a role for which García received both an APES Award and the Altazor Award for best actress. In 2002, García received an Andes Foundation grant to undertake research on conjugal violence, ''Golpes extraños al amor'' ("Blows outside love"), which led to the work ''Peso negro'' ("Dark weight"), selected for the Unipersonales de Galpón 7 Festival, and ''Frágil'' ("Fragile"), a work presented at Matucana 100 Cultural Center under her direction. In film, García debuted in the 2002 movie '' Tres noches de un sábado'' ("Three nights of one Saturday") by Joaquín Eyzaguirre, receiving a nomination for the Altazor Awards for her interpretation of the character Mathilde. She also appeared in the 2004 film '' Cachimba'' ("Hookah") by Silvio Caiozzi, in '' Casa de remolienda'' ("Party house") by Eyzaguirre in 2007,Director de "Casa de Remolienda": Lo folklórico es bonito, pero para los museos
El Mercurio. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2013. and in '' Gloria'', by

, for which she received the

at the

Filmography

Films

Television

Theatre

Actress

* ''¿Dónde estará la Jeanette?'', comedy by Luis Rivano * ''Cariño malo'', by Inés Stranger; dir.: Claudia Echenique; 1990; 2012 * ''Malasangre'', dir.: Mauricio Celedón, 1991 * ''El tío Vania'', by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

; dir.: Raúl Osorio, 1994 * ''El lugar común'' * ''Inocencia'', by Dea Loher; dir.: Luis Ureta; Muestra de Dramaturgia Europea, 2004 * ''En la Sangre'', by Suzan-Lori Parks; dir.: Carlos Osorio; interprets Hester, a beggar; Centro Cultural Matucana 100, 2004 * ''Déjala sangrar'', by Benjamín Galemiri, dir.: Adel Hakim; interprets Virna Vigo; 2005 * ''El último fuego'', by Dea Loer; dir.: Luis Ureta; April 2009 * ''Gertrudis, el grito'', by Howard Barker, dir.: Marcos Guzmán; 9th Festival of Contemporary European Theatre in Santiago, August 2009 * ''Las analfabetas'', by Pablo Paredes, 2010 * ''Fábula del niño y los animales que se mueren'', free version of

''The Trojan Women'' by Pablo Paredes; dir.: Isidora Stevenson; García interprets queen Hecuba; La Nacional company in Matucana 100, 6–15 January 2012

Director

* ''El continente negro'', by Marco Antonio de la Parra; 1996 * ''Lucrecia y Judith'', by Marco Antonio de la Parra * ''Recordando con ira'', by

( Look Back in Anger in English) * ''Anhelo del corazón'', by

Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.

("A Heart's Desire"); Muestra de Dramaturgia Europea, 2004 * ''El neoproceso'', work by Benjamín Galemiri inspired by

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

, premiere: 15 July 2006 * ''La gran noche'', by Marcelo Simonetti; premiere: 28 May 2008, Centro Mori in

Vitacura Vitacura is a communes of Chile, commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most expensive and fashionable areas of Santiago, Chile, Santiago. Inhabitants are primarily h ...

* ''Apoteosis final: BBB up'', Santiago a Mil, January 2009 * ''Orates'', by Jaime Lorca; premiere: 4 November 2010 * ''La mantis religiosa'', by Alejandro Sieveking, La Palomera theatre, premiere: 9 June 2011 * ''Cerca de Moscú'', adaptation by Pablo Paredes of two pieces by Chekhov: ''Platonov'' and ''Ivanov''; Santiago a Mil International Festival 2013Montaje dirigido por actriz ganadora del Oso de Plata se presentará nuevamente en Santiago
La Tercera. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.

Playwright

* ''Peso negro'' * ''Frágil'', 2002; premiered and directed by García in 2003.

Awards and nominations

APES Award

Altazor Awards

Silver Bear for Best Actress

Platino Awards

Festival de Cinema de Gramado - Brazil

ACCU Awards ( Asociación de Críticos de Cine de Uruguay)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Paulina 1960 births Living people Actresses from Santiago, Chile Chilean film actresses Chilean stage actresses Chilean telenovela actresses Chilean television actresses Chilean television personalities Chilean women dramatists and playwrights Chilean theatre directors Chilean women theatre directors Silver Bear for Best Actress winners 21st-century Chilean dramatists and playwrights