The Movie Teller

The Movie Teller (La contadora de películas) is a 2023 comedy-drama film directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Walter Salles, Rafa Russo, and Isabel Coixet based on the novel by Hernán Rivera Letelier. It stars Bérénice Bejo, Antonio de la Torre, Daniel Brühl, Sara Becker, and Alondra Valenzuela. It is a Chilean-Spanish-French international co-production.

Plot
Set in a mining town in the desert of Atacama in the 1960s, against the backdrop of political change in Chile and the decadence of salpetre mining communities in the country, the plot tracks the plight of María Margarita, a young woman possessing the gift of telling movies, who thereby becomes the resident "movie teller".

Production
Walter Salles was the driving force behind the project, with an involvement of more than 10 years. The film is an A Contracorriente Films (Adolfo Blanco and Manuel Monzón), Selenium Films (Vincent Juillerat), Altiro Films (Andrés Mardones) and Contadora Films AIE Spanish-French-Chilean co-production, with the participation of RTVE, TVC, and Euskaltel-Telecable and backing from ICAA, ICEC, and Crea-SGR.

Release
The film was scheduled to land a special presentation at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival on 15 September 2023, and opened the 68th Valladolid International Film Festival on 21 October 2023. Distributed by A Contracorriente Films, it was released theatrically in Spain on 27 October 2023.

Reception
According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, The Movie Teller has a 90% approval rating based on 10 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 6.7/10.

Steve Pond of The Wrap wrote that "in its happiest moments", the film "is glorious and yes, a little corny; in its darkest ones, it's still lovely and sad".

Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood deemed the film to be "a must-see" for movie lovers everywhere.

Maggie Lovitt of Collider gave the film a B+ rating, deeming it to be "a love letter to the community that grows from the seeds of storytelling".

Accolades

 * rowspan = "10" | 2024
 * rowspan = "6" | 16th Gaudí Awards || Best Supporting Actor || Daniel Brühl || Nominated || rowspan = "6" |
 * Best Editing || Bernat Aragonés || Nominated
 * Best Production Supervision || Elisa Sirvent, Patricio Pereira || Nominated
 * Best Costume Design || Mercè Paloma || Nominated
 * Best Makeup and Hairstyles || Patricia Reyes, Jesús Martos || Nominated
 * Best Visual Effects || Bernat Aragonés || Won
 * 79th CEC Medals || Best New Actress || Sara Becker || Nominated ||
 * rowspan = "3" | 38th Goya Awards || Best New Actress || Sara Becker || Nominated || rowspan = "3" |
 * Best Art Direction || Carlos Conti || Nominated
 * Best Costume Design || Mercè Paloma || Nominated
 * }
 * Best Visual Effects || Bernat Aragonés || Won
 * 79th CEC Medals || Best New Actress || Sara Becker || Nominated ||
 * rowspan = "3" | 38th Goya Awards || Best New Actress || Sara Becker || Nominated || rowspan = "3" |
 * Best Art Direction || Carlos Conti || Nominated
 * Best Costume Design || Mercè Paloma || Nominated
 * }
 * Best Art Direction || Carlos Conti || Nominated
 * Best Costume Design || Mercè Paloma || Nominated
 * }
 * }