Marcelo Leonart

{{short description|Chilean writer, filmmaker, and theater director}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Marcelo Leonart

| image = Leonart, Marcelo.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Leonart before a Liceo de niñas performance, December 2015

| birth_name = Marcelo Enrique Leonart Tomas

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1970}}

| birth_place = Santiago, Chile

| death_date =

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| other_names =

| occupation = Writer, filmmaker, theater director

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| spouse = Nona Fernández

| children =

| awards = {{Plainlist|

  • Altazor Award (2006)
  • {{ill|Revista de Libros Award|es|Premio Revista de Libros}} (2011)

}}

| alma_mater =

}}

Marcelo Enrique Leonart Tomas (born 1970) is a Chilean writer, filmmaker, and theater director.

{{TOC limit|3}}

Biography

An avid reader in childhood, Marcelo Leonart wrote his first play, No salgas esta noche, in 1991. He developed his skills by attending the literary workshops of {{ill|Poli Délano|es}}, Antonio Skármeta, and Carlos Franz. It was in the last of these where he finished Mujer desnuda fumando en la ventana, his first book, which was published in 1999.{{Cite web |url=http://www.redlideres.cl/lider/marcelo-leonart/ |title=Marcelo Leonart |publisher=Red de Líderes |language=Spanish |access-date=23 April 2018}}

Some of the stories of that collection had already received awards, and the 2008 film {{ill|199 recetas para ser feliz|es}}, by {{ill|Andrés Waissbluth|es}}, is based on one of them.

The following year, he was part of the scriptwriting team of the television series Romané. He went on to write for several other series. In 2012 he moved from TVN to Canal 13.{{Cite news |url=http://diario.latercera.com/edicionimpresa/equipo-de-guionistas-emblematicos-de-tvn-emigra-a-canal-13/ |title=Equipo de guionistas emblemáticos de TVN emigra a Canal 13 |trans-title=TVN's Team of Emblematic Scriptwriters Migrate to Canal 13 |first=Cecilia |last=Gutiérrez |work=La Tercera |language=Spanish |date=5 May 2012 |access-date=23 April 2018}}

As a dramatist, Leonart has written a series of pieces, and among the most recent he has directed is El taller. Written by Nona Fernández and premiered in 2012, it is inspired by the literary workshop that Mariana Callejas had at her home in {{ill|Lo Curro|es}}, while her husband Michael Townley directed the operations of a DINA barracks in the basement.{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.paula.cl/tiempo-libre/el-taller-una-obra-inspirada-en-mariana-callejas/ |title=El taller una obra inspirada en Mariana Callejas |trans-title=El taller a Play Inspired by Mariana Callejas |first=Pilar |last=Navarrete |work=Paula |language=Spanish |date=3 May 2012 |access-date=23 April 2018}}

His first novel, Fotos de Laura, was applauded by critics and awarded,{{Cite news |url=http://diario.elmercurio.com/detalle/index.asp?id={badf617b-4c15-4e16-b6d9-601f8de3e73e} |title=Marcelo Leonart recibe el Premio Revista de Libros 2011 |trans-title=Marcelo Leonart Receives the 2011 Revista de Libros Award |work=El Mercurio |language=Spanish |date=30 March 2012 |access-date=23 April 2018}} as was his second compilation of stories, La educación.{{Cite news |url=http://diario.elmercurio.com/2012/07/29/al_revista_de_libros/critica/noticias/1BB504BC-7013-4576-AB2E-25AB26819657.htm?id={1BB504BC-7013-4576-AB2E-25AB26819657} |title=Ratones, tortugas, quiltros |trans-title=Mice, Turtles, Quilters |first=Camilo |last=Marks |author-link=Camilo Marks |work=El Mercurio |language=Spanish |date=29 July 2012 |access-date=23 April 2018}} After these two books appeared in 2012, he published the novels Lacra, La patria – whose main character is Francisco Javier Cuadra, minister of Augusto Pinochet{{Cite news |url=http://www.theclinic.cl/2013/01/03/marcelo-leonart-y-su-novela-sobre-francisco-javier-cuadra/ |title=Marcelo Leonart y su novela sobre Francisco Javier Cuadra |trans-title=Marcelo Leonart and His Novel About Francisco Javier Cuadra |first=Ana |last=Rodríguez |work=The Clinic |language=Spanish |date=3 January 2013 |access-date=23 April 2018}} – and Pascua, "which has at its center the abuses committed by priests."{{Cite news |url=http://diario.elmercurio.com/2015/05/10/al_revista_de_libros/revista_de_libros/noticias/37FA21B9-B745-49CB-890E-1C77034A4F4C.htm?id={37FA21B9-B745-49CB-890E-1C77034A4F4C} |title=Los excesos de Marcelo Leonart |trans-title=The Excesses of Marcelo Leonart |first=Roberto |last=Careaga C. |work=El Mercurio |language=Spanish |date=10 May 2015 |access-date=23 April 2018}}

As a filmmaker, Leonart co-directed, together with Paulo Avilés, the film Grita (based on his homonymous theatrical work), which premiered in 2009 at the Santiago International Film Festival.

He has a son, Dante, with his partner, the writer Nona Fernández, whom he met when they both studied at the Theater School of the Catholic University.{{Cite news |url=http://diario.elmercurio.com/detalle/index.asp?id={c2709f43-10ab-4ca4-8786-b0abcb4ae147} |title=Marcelo Leonart: Escribo para poner en escena y hago teatro para narrar |trans-title=Marcelo Leonart: I Write to Stage and I Do Theater to Narrate |work=El Mercurio |language=Spanish |date=29 January 2012 |access-date=23 April 2018}} In 2004 the couple founded the theater company La Fusa,{{Cite web |url=http://www.luchalibro.cl/2012/04/25/el-taller-mariana-callejas/ |title=Estrenan 'El taller': la obra que revive las demenciales 'fiestas literarias' de Mariana Callejas en una casa-cuartel de la DINA |trans-title='El taller' Premieres: The Play Which Relives the Insane 'Literary Parties' of Mariana Callejas in a House-Barracks of the DINA |work=LuchaLibro |language=Spanish |date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629202842/http://www.luchalibro.cl/2012/04/25/el-taller-mariana-callejas/ |archive-date=29 June 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 April 2018}} with which Leonart staged all his works from Grita to Liceo de niñas. The latter premiered in 2015, and with it the company was renamed La Pieza Oscura.{{Cite web |url=http://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/2015/10/23/hoy-se-estrena-liceo-de-ninas-de-nona-fernandez-en-teatro-uc.shtml |title=Hoy se estrena 'Liceo de Niñas' de Nona Fernández en Teatro UC |trans-title=Today 'Liceo de Niñas' by Nona Fernández Premieres at UC Theater |publisher=Radio Bío-Bío |language=Spanish |date=23 October 2015 |access-date=23 April 2018}}

Awards

  • Óscar Castro Award
  • First place at the Gabriela Mistral Literary Games
  • 1998 Juan Rulfo de Cuento Award (Radio France International, Paris) for Maribel bajo el brazo
  • 2006 Altazor Award in the TV Script category for {{ill|Los treinta|es}} (ex aequo){{Cite web |url=http://www.premioaltazor.cl/marcelo-leonart-nona-fernandez-hugo-morales-y-ximena-carrera-los-treinta/ |title=Marcelo Leonart, Nona Fernández, Hugo Morales y Ximena Carrera |publisher=Altazor Award |language=Spanish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311033725/http://www.premioaltazor.cl/marcelo-leonart-nona-fernandez-hugo-morales-y-ximena-carrera-los-treinta/ |archive-date=11 March 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 April 2018}}
  • 2011 National Book and Reading Council Award in the Best Unpublished Work category for La educación
  • 2011 Revista de Libros Award (El Mercurio) for Fotos de Laura
  • 2012 National Book Council Award in the Best Unpublished Work category for the novel Lacra{{Cite news |url=http://diario.elmercurio.com/2012/10/13/actividad_cultural/literatura/noticias/CE7C97C0-3ED8-4A7C-943A-38D05D4B8F92.htm?id={CE7C97C0-3ED8-4A7C-943A-38D05D4B8F92} |title=Consejo del Libro premia a las mejores obras literarias 2012 |trans-title=Book Council Awards the Best 2012 Literary Works |work=El Mercurio |language=Spanish |date=13 October 2012 |access-date=23 April 2018}}
  • 2017 National Book Council Award in the Best Unpublished Work category for the novel Weichafe

Works

=Narrative=

  • Mujer desnuda fumando en la ventana, stories, Colección del Sur, Planeta, 1999 (Booket, 2004); containing five texts:
  • "Noticias de Milo", "Última llamada", "Maribel bajo el brazo", "Noches con Antonia", and "Mujer desnuda fumando en la ventana"
  • Fotos de Laura, novel, El Mercurio/Aguilar, Santiago, 2012
  • La educación, stories, Tajamar, Santiago, 2012; containing six stories:
  • "Crías", "Los perros", "Pájaros negro olfateando la carroña", "Caparazón", "Los cuerpos", and "La educación"
  • La patria, novel with the principal character Francisco Javier Cuadra; Tajamar, Santiago, 2012
  • Lacra, novel, Tajamar, Santiago, 2013
  • Pascua, novel, Tajamar, Santiago, 2015
  • El libro rojo de la historia de Chile, novel, Tajamar, Santiago, 2016

=Theater=

  • No salgas esta noche, 1991
  • Sobre los mismos techos, 1992
  • SubCielo, fuego en la ciudad, 1994
  • Pompa Bye-Bye, 1995
  • Encadenados, 1997
  • Grita, 2004; published in the book Bestiario, freakshow temporada 1973/1990, together with Medusa (2010, by Ximena Carrera) and El taller (2012, by Nona Fernández); Ceibo Ediciones, Santiago, 2013{{Cite news |url=http://diario.latercera.com/2013/05/25/01/contenido/cultura-entretencion/30-137651-9-bestiario-una-historia-teatral-del-regimen-en-el-teatro-y-el-papel.shtml |title=Bestiario, una historia teatral del régimen en el teatro y el papel |trans-title=Bestiario, a Theatrical History of the Regime in Theater and Paper |first=Estefanía |last=Etcheverría |work=La Tercera |language=Spanish |date=25 May 2013 |access-date=23 April 2018}}
  • Lo invisible, 2006
  • Cuerpos mutilados en el campo de batalla, 2007
  • Todas las fiestas del mañana, 2008
  • Noche mapuche, directed by the author; La Pieza Oscura company, GAM, 30 September – 28 October 2017

=Telenovelas=

==Original stories==

  • 16 (2003)
  • {{ill|17 (TV series)|es|17 (telenovela)|lt=17}} (2005)
  • {{ill|Los treinta|es}} (2005)
  • {{ill|Disparejas|es|Disparejas (telenovela)|lt=Disparejas}} (2006)
  • {{ill|Amor por accidente|es}} (2007)
  • 40 y Tantos (2010)

==Adaptations==

  • Romané (2000) – original by {{ill|Sergio Bravo (screenwriter)|es|Sergio Bravo|lt=Sergio Bravo}}
  • Amores de mercado (2001) – original by Fernando Aragón and {{ill|Arnaldo Madrid|es}}
  • {{ill|Purasangre (telenovela)|es|Purasangre (telenovela chilena)|lt=Purasangre}} (2002) – original by {{ill|Alejandro Cabrera (writer)|es|Alejandro Cabrera|lt=Alejandro Cabrera}} and {{ill|Larissa Contreras|es}}
  • {{ill|Aída (Chilean TV series)|es|Aída (serie de televisión de Chile)|lt=Aída}} (2008) – original by {{ill|Nacho G. Velilla|es}}
  • {{ill|Los exitosos Pells (Chilean telenovela)|es|Los exitosos Pells (telenovela chilena)|lt=Los exitosos Pells}} (2009) – Original by {{ill|Esther Feldman|es}} and {{ill|Alejandro Maci|es}}
  • Secretos en el jardín (2013) – original by Julio Rojas and Matías Ovalle

==New versions rewritten by others==

  • Dulce amargo (2013) ({{ill|Los treinta|es}}) - by Iris Dubs

References

{{Reflist|30em}}