Lux Pascal champions Chilean cinema and literature at Tribeca with "Summer War"

Chilean-American actress Lux Pascal championed Chilean cinema and literature at the Tribeca Festival in New York, promoting her new film "Summer War." Directed by Alicia Scherson, the movie is an adaptation of Roberto Bolaño's posthumous novel "The Third Reich."

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The beach hides a certain possibility of violence. It is also a place where social classes mix and where we are almost naked, vulnerable. In this scenario, the police presence, the body that disappears at sea, refers us to a political violence that the protagonist, who is in tourist mode, does not realize.

The film is set on a Chilean beach in 1989, during the final years of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. Pascal plays "Ingrid," the girlfriend of "Udo Berger" (Dan Beirne), a champion of war board games. Their vacation at a coastal hotel is disrupted by a mysterious drowning, blurring the lines between game and reality.

Director Scherson described the setting as a place where social classes mingle and people are vulnerable, hiding a potential for violence. "The beach hides a certain possibility of violence," she told EFE. "It is also a place where social classes mix and where we are almost naked, vulnerable. In this scenario, the police presence, the body that disappears at sea, refers us to a political violence that the protagonist, who is in tourist mode, does not realize."

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It was difficult to play a 'foreigner' with people who I not only consider castmates but also friends.

Pascal, whose parents were Chilean exiles and who was born in the United States, found portraying a character who seemed foreign to the environment challenging. "It was difficult to play a 'foreigner' with people who I not only consider castmates but also friends," she said, emphasizing her deep connection to Chile. Her character, Ingrid, is marked by contradictions as she navigates a potentially hostile world and her partner's mental turmoil.

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I think that as 'Ingrid' and, particularly, as a woman, we are required a level of generosity and personal sacrifice that is not necessarily human.

"I think that as 'Ingrid' and, particularly, as a woman, we are required a level of generosity and personal sacrifice that is not necessarily human," Pascal reflected. With "Summer War," her latest film after the 2025 Argentine-Spanish production "Miss Carbón," the actress hopes audiences will take away "a piece of Chilean cinema and literature, and a bit of history too!"

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I hope that the audience takes away a piece of Chilean cinema and literature, and a bit of history too!