The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
An LGBTQ+ western that intertwines magical realism with family, love, and death.
In the early '80s, in the Chilean desert, eleven-year-old Lidia grows up in a loving queer family pushed on the edge of an unwelcoming dusty mining town. They are blamed for a mysterious illness that is starting to spread – said to be passed through a single gaze, when one man falls in love with another. In this modern western, Lidia leads a quest for vengeance, facing violence, fear and hatred, where family is her only refuge and love might be the real danger.
The film won an award in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard programme, several other festival recognitions, and was selected to represent Chile in the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars.
Diego Céspedes is a Chilean filmmaker. Born in 1995, he studied Film & Television at University of Chile. He worked as a cinematographer and editor on several short films in college, such as Non Castus by Andrea Castillo, Special Mention at Locarno FF 2016, Pardi di Domani. In 2018, he wrote and directed his first short film: The Summer of the Electric Lion, First Prize in Cannes FF, Cinéfondation; and Nest First Prize, San Sebastián FF. Also, the short film was selected at Sundance, Palm Springs, Biarritz, AFI Fest, among others.