Manuela Martelli

Manuela Abril Martelli Salamovich, born on April 16, 1983 in Santiago de Chile, is a celebrated Chilean actress and emerging director whose career has spanned over two decades. She hails from a culturally diverse family; her father Nicolás Martelli is of Italian descent and her mother Marian Salamovich is of Croatian roots, a heritage that has informed her artistic sensibility. Martelli attended Saint George's College in Santiago before pursuing higher education at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she cultivated her passion for performance. In 2010 she expanded her academic horizons by earning a master’s degree in film studies from Temple University in Philadelphia, a move that later fueled her transition behind the camera. She began acting in her teenage years, landing the lead role in Gonzalo Justiniano’s critically acclaimed film B‑Happy, which marked her entry into Chilean cinema and earned her early recognition. Subsequent performances in the socially resonant film Machuca and the popular TV series Huaiquimán y Tolosa solidified her reputation as a versatile talent capable of navigating both dramatic and comedic tones. Martelli’s international visibility grew when she shared the screen with Dutch legend Rutger Hauer in the Chilean‑Italian co‑production Il Futuro, an adaptation of Roberto Bolaño’s novella, showcasing her ability to collaborate on transnational projects. Transitioning to directing, she debuted with the short Apnea in 2014, followed by Land Tides in 2015, which premiered at Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight and demonstrated her distinctive visual storytelling. Her first feature film 1976 premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight, garnering multiple awards including the Sutherland Award at the BFI London Film Festival and a Best Actress prize at TIFF, underscoring her dual prowess as actress and filmmaker. In 2022 she embarked on her second feature, The Meltdown (El deshielo), continuing a thematic trilogy that explores Chilean history through a personal lens, and earning the Coprocity Development Prize at Ventana Sur. Martelli’s trajectory reflects a relentless commitment to artistic exploration, cultural representation, and the elevation of Chilean cinema on the global stage.