Biography
Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Silva broke into the international cinema with a series of critically acclaimed comedy-dramas about unique relationships that included the awardwinning "La Nana" ("The Maid," 2009), "Crystal Fairy" (2013) and "Nasty Baby" (2015). Born April 9, 1979 in Santiago, Chile, Sebastián Silva Irarrázabal was the second eldest of seven siblings, several of whom worked on his subsequent films as actors or in behind-the-scenes capacities. He studied at the Film School of Chile from 1998 to 2000 before leaving to learn animation in Montreal, Canada. While there, he formed CHC (Congregación de Hermanos Contemplativos), the first of several musical acts with whom he would perform and record in the mid-2000s. During this period, Silva also had several exhibitions of his illustrations, one of which brought him to Hollywood for a series of fruitless meetings with studio executives. Frustrated, he left for New York, where he formed Yaia and Los Mono, and recorded a solo record, Iwannawin & Friends, in 2005. With fellow Chilean filmmaker Pedro Peirano, he wrote and directed his first feature, "La Vida me mata" ("Life Kills Me," 2007), an offbeat comedy about two friends with obsessive, if diametrically opposite views on death. The film drew positive reviews and awards at international festivals, and led to his second picture, ""The Maid," a comedy-drama about a domestic servant who stops at nothing to retain her long-standing position with a family. Co-written by Silva and Peirano, "La Nana" was a substantial hit among critics, earning not only a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film but also the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema: Dramatic category at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. In 2012, he made his American television debut with "The Boring Life of Jacqueline" (HBO, 2012), a series of short comic features about an aspiring actress produced with Mike White for HBO's online branch, HBO Digitals. The following year, he directed "Magic Magic" (2013), an arresting story of a young American (Juno Temple) stranded on an island with a group of strangers, including a seemingly unstable young man (Michael Cera). While working on this film, Silva and Cera also made "Crystal Fairy," a quirky comedy about a young American whose pursuit of a cactus with psychotropic qualities is interrupted by an eccentric woman (Gaby Hoffman). "Crystal Fairy" earned Silva the Directing Award (World Cinema Dramatic) at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and preceded production on his next feature, a comedy-drama called "Nasty Baby" (2015). In addition to writing and directing the film, Silva also starred as a performance artist who, with his partner, played by TV on the Radio vocalist Tunde Adebimpe, try to conceive a child with a friend (Kristen Wiig). Following its premiere at the 2015 Sundance Festival, "Nasty Baby" won the Teddy Award for best LGBT-themed feature at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.
