ABRUPT LOSS

Oscar-Winner Found Dead in His Home at 52

A cause of death has not been released.

Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio, who directed the Oscar-winning drama A Fantastic Woman, has died at 52. El Mercurio Online reports he was found dead in his Santiago, Chile, home by his partner, actress Amalia Kassai. In a post on social media, Kassai confirmed that Lelio died due to “health reasons,” but did not elaborate on what sort of issues specifically. “We are going through a time of great pain, and his memory will remain with us forever,” she wrote. “He was a wonderful person who contributed to Chilean culture during significant moments in its history.” Along with A Fantastic Woman, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Lelio was known for directing The Wonder, a BAFTA-nominated thriller starring Florence Pugh, and The Wave. According to Deadline, he had been filming an adaptation of Alejandro Zambra’s novel Chilean Poet up until his death. He was also working on Voyagers, starring Andrew Garfield as Carl Sagan and Daisy Edgar-Jones as Cosmos creator Ann Druyan.