‘The Wave’ First Look: Sebastián Lelio’s Protest Musical Is a Chilean #MeToo Moment

Samantha Bergeson
·3 min read
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Sebastián Lelio is setting the soundtrack of a feminist revolution with musical film “The Wave (La Ola)” — it just wrapped production.

The Academy Award-winning director helms the film that follows music student Julia (Daniela López) who gets involved in the growing feminist #MeToo movement on her university campus. Amid the excitement of protest marches, per the official synopsis, Julia joins her friends in dancing and singing, revisiting her own experiences of mistreatment. As she gathers the courage to share her own abuse story, she unexpectedly becomes a central figure in the movement — a role she didn’t foresee, which forces her to address her identity as a survivor in a society that promises change but remains resistant to it.

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Avril Aurora, Lola Bravo, and Paulina Cortés also star. See below for first-look images.

Lelio co-wrote the screenplay with Manuela Infante, Josefina Fernández, and Paloma Salas. The writer/director/producer was inspired by the mass protests and university rallies that took place during the so-called “feminist May” in 2018 that created an iconic moment in the Chilean consciousness and reverberated across the world, as described in a press statement.

“I am fascinated by the idea of using the musical genre with its aura of romance and splendor to speak about the inspiring young feminist movement in Chile, mutual consent in the post #MeToo era, and the political potential of the individual or collective voice,” Lelio said. “‘The Wave’ explores the collision between the urgency for change and the status-quo through the intoxicating power of dance, music and a band of masked women who are determined to change the world.”

Co-screenwriter Infante added, “I was a teacher at the university when about 100 female students lay siege to its main building. I stood very close to them and learned a lot from them. In fact, their experiences and stories are part of the foundations of this movie about what comes after the feminist uprising.”

The film’s original musical compositions have been created collaboratively by 17 female Chilean musicans including Ana Tijoux, Camila Moreno, and Javiera Parra, as well as the film’s award-winning composer, Matthew Herbert, who previously collaborated with Lelio on “The Wonder”, “A Fantastic Woman”, “Gloria Bell,” and “Disobedience.”

Ryan Heffington is the choreographer behind the musical sequences. Heffington has worked with recording artists including Sia and Florence and the Machine, as well as on the series “Euphoria” and “Transparent” and the films “Tick, Tick… Boom!” and “Baby Driver.”

Along with Lelio, “The Wave” is produced by Pablo Larraín, Juan de Dios Larraín, and Rocío Jadue, who stated that the “goal” of the film was to “showcase the remarkable journey of Latin American feminists who, over the last decade, have shattered paradigms and secured rights through their activism.”

The feature is produced by Fabula and co-financed by Participant, who worked with Lelio on “A Fantastic Woman” and Fremantle. Lelio’s previous films include Participant’s “A Fantastic Woman,” for which he won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the BAFTA Award nominated “The Wonder,” and the multi award-winning “Gloria Bell.”

Lelio is next set to direct “The Voyagers” with Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones, based on the real-life relationship between astronomer Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, who produces the feature.

See the first look images of “The Wave” below.

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