Oscar-winning director Sebastián Lelio has wrapped production and released first images on his new musical film The Wave (La Ola), inspired by the protests and university rallies that took place in Chile during the so-called “feminist May” in 2018.
The film, which stars newcomers Daniela López, Avril Aurora, Lola Bravo and Paulina Cortés, shot on location in Chile for nine weeks.
It centres on Julia, a dedicated music student, who gets involved in the growing feminist movement on her university campus to protest widespread harassment and abuse suffered by many of their peers. Julia joins her friends in dancing and singing, revisiting her own experiences of mistreatment and unexpectedly becomes a central figure in the movement.
The Wave is produced by Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue and Sebastián Lelio through the Larraín’s powerhouse Chilean production company Fabula. The film is co-financed by Participant and Fremantle. The screenplay is by written by Sebastián Lelio, Manuela Infante, Josefina Fernández and Paloma Salas.
The film’s original musical compositions have been created collaboratively by 17 female Chilean musicians including Ana Tijoux, Camila Moreno and Javiera Parra, as well as the film’s composer, Matthew Herbert. Herbert’s credits include Lelio’s The Wonder, A Fantastic Woman, Gloria Bell and Disobedience.
The choreographer is Ryan Heffington who has worked with recording artists including Sia, Florence and the Machine and Christine and the Queens as well as on the series Euphoria and Transparent and the films Tick, Tick… Boom! and Baby Driver.
Lelio’s previous films include Participant’s A Fantastic Woman, for which he won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA-nominated The Wonder.
Lelio said: “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. 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.”
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