In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the ‘No’ vote persuade a brash young advertising executive, René Saavedra, to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and while under scrutiny by the despot’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.
No is a 2012 historical drama film directed by Pablo Larraín. It is based on the unpublished stage play El plebiscito by Antonio Skármeta. Mexican actor Gael García Bernal stars as René, a sought-after advertising executive working in Chile in the late 1980s. The film depicts the advertising strategies used during the political campaigns for the 1988 Chilean national plebiscite, in which citizens voted on whether dictator Augusto Pinochet should remain in power for another eight years. At the 85th Academy Awards, No became the first Chilean film to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
