Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month - Part 2: Filmmakers
/In part one of our blog series highlighting the amazing contributions of Hispanic artists, we featured some trailblazing actors in the film and television industries. In part two we focus on some game-changing Hispanic filmmakers.
Game-Changing Filmmakers
Spanish-speaking nations have had robust film industries for over a century, but only in the last few decades have Hispanic filmmakers found major success in Hollywood. One of the earliest and most influential Hispanic filmmakers was Spaniard Luis Buñuel. He began his film career in France, directing, producing, editing, and co-writing (with Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí) his first short film "An Andalusian Dog" ("Un Chien Andalou") in 1929. He would continue to make films in Spanish, French, and English into the 1970s.
In 1956, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began annually awarding statuettes to foreign-language and international films. The first Spanish-language film to be nominated for this coveted award (originally called Best Foreign-Language Film but renamed Best International Feature Film in 2020) was 1958's "Vengeance" ("La venganza"), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem (uncle of Javier Bardem). Buñuel directed and co-wrote a film that won this award for France, 1972's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" ("Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie"). A decade later, 1982's "To Begin Again" ("Volver a empezar") directed by José Luis Garci became the first Spanish-language film to win the award. A total of eight Spanish-language films from four nations (Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina) have won this top prize.
Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar wrote and directed one of those winners, 1999's "All About My Mother" ("Todo sobre mi madre"), starring frequent collaborator Penélope Cruz. Hollywood first took notice of Almodóvar when his 1988 black comedy "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" ("Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios"), featuring frequent collaborator Antonio Banderas, was nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film.
In 2003, Almodóvar became the first (and to this day only) Spaniard nominated for Best Director at the Oscars, for 2002's "Talk to Her" ("Hable con ella"). He did not win in that category, but he did make history by winning Best Original Screenplay, a first for a Spanish-language film. His two most recent films, 2019's "Pain and Glory" ("Dolor y gloria") starring Banderas and Cruz and 2021's "Parallel Mothers" ("Madres paralelas") starring Cruz, were critically acclaimed and performed very well on the awards circuit.
Another Spanish filmmaker who has found success in Hollywood is Alejandro Amenábar. His 1997 Spanish-language film "Open Your Eyes" ("Abre los ojos"), which he co-wrote, co-scored, and directed, gained the attention of American audiences when it was remade as "Vanilla Sky" in 2001. That same year, Amenábar found success with his psychological thriller "The Others," starring Nicole Kidman. The film grossed more than $200 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film ever to come out of Spain. "The Others" also won seven Goya Awards (Spain's national film awards), including Best Film and Best Director. It was the first English-language film ever to win Best Film at the Goyas. Amenábar's followup, 2004's Spanish-language "The Sea Inside" ("Mar adentro"), which he co-wrote, directed, co-produced, scored, and edited, won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Over the last decade, several Mexican filmmakers have grabbed the spotlight and broken barrier after barrier in Hollywood by topping the box office and winning major industry awards.
Alfonso Cuarón not only writes and directs most of his films, but he also often edits and produces them. As a jack of all trades, he has been nominated for 10 Oscars in six different categories. He first gained notice in America for 2001's "Y tu mamá también," starring Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal and Spanish actress Maribel Verdú. His 2006 film "Children of Men" earned three Oscar nominations and was included in many critics' end-of-year top films lists. In 2013, he released the blockbuster sci-fi drama "Gravity" and would go on to win two Oscars for the film – Best Director and Best Film Editing. The first Mexican filmmaker to win Best Director won the award again several years later for 2018's "Roma." He won an additional Oscar that year for its cinematography, and the film was named Best Foreign-Language Film.
Cuarón's dominance of Mexican cinema has not gone unchallenged. In 2015, Alejandro G. Iñárritu won his first Best Director Oscar for the sardonic film "Birdman." He became the first Mexican to direct a Best Picture winner that year as well and also won Best Original Screenplay. That same year, he directed the critically acclaimed adventure drama "The Revenant," and in 2016 he won Best Director for that film, becoming the first Mexican to win two Oscars in that category and the first back-to-back winner since Joseph Mankiewicz in 1950 and 1951.
Iñárritu first gained notice with 2000's "Amores perros," which was nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film in 2001. His follow up, 2003's "21 Grams," earned two nominations, and his third film, 2006's "Babel," was a critical darling that earned seven Oscar nods and did very well at the box office. In 2010, he directed his second Spanish-language film, "Biutiful," which (like all of his previous feature films) earned several Oscar nominations.
Not to be outdone, in 2017 Guillermo del Toro continued Mexico's dominance with his dark fantasy film "The Shape of Water." The movie was popular with both filmgoers and critics and earned him Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture. He had previously been nominated for Best Original Screenplay for 2006's critically acclaimed "Pan's Labyrinth." His most recent feature film, 2021's "Nightmare Alley," received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
Lastly, no list of contemporary Hispanic filmmakers would be complete without Mexican-American director, screenwriter, editor, and composer Robert Rodriguez. Known for his "Mexico Trilogy," the "Spy Kids" franchise, "Sin City," "Machete" (starring the legendary Danny Trejo), and his collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez has worked on dozens of popular films and directed numerous episodes of acclaimed television shows.
This is of course just a sampling of groundbreaking Hispanic filmmakers. Learn about more talented Latinx artists that will be hitting the big and small screens in the coming months (and years) in the final and third part of our series coming early next week!
