Background: In 1973, a military coup deposed Chile’s elected president Salvator Allende and the brutal military dictator General Augusto Pinochet took over the country. In 1988 under international pressure Pinochet is forced to agree to a ‘YES or NO’ referendum to determine whether he can continue as leader of Chile. During the month proceeding the referendum, each side was entitled to 15 minutes a day of uncensored adds. The allocated timeslot for the “NO” side was a bleak midnight to 12:15 a.m.

‘No’ is a political drama filmed in Spanish with English subtitles, part of a trilogy directed by Pablo Larraín, which includes ‘Tony Manero’ and ‘Post Mortem’. It was showcased at TIFF and won a 2013 Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination. ‘No’ joins Argo and Zero Dark Thirty as one of the political dramas elevated to a new level of recognition as a result ofAcademy Awards attention. It is a fascinating story particularly because it showcases a recent period in World politics where a brutal dictatorship with an iron grip on its people was toppled peacefully through a cleverly orchestrated and original ad campaign.

The film ‘NO’ is about the young advertising executive, René Saavedra (Gael García Bernal) who works for an agency that has been commissioned to design a series of TV ads around the ‘Yes’ ‘No’ campaign for Pinochet’s re-election. René’s bossLuis Guzmán (Alfredo Castro) is leading the “Yes” team. A major conflict arises when René exercises his liberty as a freelancer and join the “No” campaign.

The film depicts the oppressive aspects of Pinochet’s regime by focusing on the challenges faced by the advertising minds behind the TV commercials and the public’s fear (violence, abuse of power and other human rights violations). Vote “Yes” and it will be business as usual (oppression and violence). Vote “No” for a change from the oppressive dictatorship but who can predict a new political uncertainty might bring.

‘No’ was presented at TIFF in Toronto in September 2012 and is in theatres now.

Read more about other Foreign Film Oscar Nominees.

Christophe Chanel