The Strong Ones

The Strong Ones (Spanish: Los fuertes) is a 2019 Chilean film directed by Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo and starring Samuel González and Antonio Altamirano.

The Strong Ones
Chilean theatrical release poster
Spanish	Los fuertes
Directed by	Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo
Written by	Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo
Produced by	Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo José Luis Rivas
Starring	Samuel González Antonio Altamirano
Cinematography	Nicolás Ibieta
Edited by	Carolina Marín
Music by	Sokio
Production companies	Cinestación Terranova
Release dates	7 October 2019 (2019-10-07) (Valdivia) 12 March 2020 (2020-03-12) (Chile)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	Chile
Language	Spanish

The movie is based on the original short film San Cristóbal, winner of the Teddy Award 2015 in the Berlin International Film Festival.^[1] González and Altamirano, the protagonists in the short film, reprised their roles in the full-length film.

The Strong Ones was released in 2019 as the opening film of the Valdivia International Film Festival.^[2] Then, it participated in several international festivals like OutFest and Mardi Gras Film Festival.^[3][4] It received theatrical release on 12 March 2020 in Chile; however, the COVID-19 pandemic suspended most cinemas a few days later.^[5] Finally, it was released for free in the Ondamedia streaming platform on 21 August 2020.^[6]

The movie was filmed in the city of Valdivia and neighboring Niebla, where an old Spanish fortress is used as background for the romance between the two protagonists. Los fuertes, the original name in Spanish, is a pun using the plural of fuerte, which can mean "strong" and "fortress".^{[citation needed]}

Plot

Lucas (played by Samuel González) travels to Niebla, a town in southern Chile, to visit his sister Carolina (played by Marcela Salinas) before leaving for Montreal, where he has received a scholarship for postgraduate studies. While in Niebla, Lucas befriends and falls in love with Antonio (played by Antonio Altamirano), a fisherman and part-time actor who reenacts the historical capture of Valdivia's fortresses.

Cast

Actors representing Chilean soldiers in a historical reenactment in Niebla, as Antonio does in the film

• Samuel González - Lucas, an architect from Santiago that receives an scholarship in Montreal, Canada. Lucas and his conservative parents are estranged due to Lucas's homosexuality.
• Antonio Altamirano - Antonio Galindo, a young fisherman from Niebla. He also acts as a Chilean soldier in historical reenactments of the Capture of Valdivia for tourists visiting the town's fortress.
• Marcela Salinas - Catalina, Lucas' sister. She works as a dentist at the hospital in Niebla.
• Gabriela Fernández - Adriana, Antonio's grandmother and guardian after the death of his parents.
• Rafael Contreras - Martín, Catalina's partner.
• Nicolás Corales - Roca, Antonio's shipmate.

See also

• LGBT rights in Chile
• List of LGBT-related films

References

1. "Teddy Winner 2015". Premio Teddy. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
2. "Catálogo FIC 2019" (PDF). Festival Internacional de Cine de Valdivia. 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
3. "Película "Los fuertes": una intensa historia de amor filmada en el sur de Chile". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
4. "Los fuertes". Cinechile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-08-22.
5. "Omar Zúñiga, director de "Los Fuertes": "La película habla de un Chile nuevo, en el que todos nos podemos sentir conectados con ese amor"". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
6. "Ondamedia estrenará 15 películas chilenas completamente gratis". Finde (in Spanish). 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-08-22.

External links

• Official site
• The Strong Ones at IMDb
• Los fuertes en CineChile