The 67th Berlin International Film Festival saw the release of '' A Fantastic Woman '' ( 2017 ) , directed by Sebastián Lelio , a film for which her performance was acclaimed by critics . '' A Fantastic Woman '' tells the story of Marina ( played by Vega ) and Orlando ( played by Francisco Reyes ) , an older man with whom she is in love and planning a future . After Orlando falls ill and dies , Marina is forced to face family and society , and fight again to show who she is : a fantastic woman . Critic Guy Lodge in a review for '' Variety '' praising Vega 's performance said : " Vega 's tough , expressive , and subtly distressed performance deserves far more than political praise . " He continued to note that " It ’s a multi-layered , emotionally polymorphous feat of acting , nurtured with pitch-perfect sensitivity by her director , who maintains complete candor on Marina ’s condition without pushing her anywhere she would n’t herself go . " Her name was strongly mentioned for an Oscar nomination as Best Actress . She won an award for her performance at the Palm Springs International Film Festival for Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film . '' A Fantastic Woman '' went on to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film , and Vega became the first openly transgender person ever to be a presenter at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2018
67th Berlin International Film Festival
67th Berlin International Film Festival
Daniela Vega