Morelia International Film Festival

In 1989, Soderbergh made Sex, Lies and Videotape, his first worldwide commercial success. It won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the FIPRESCI, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director, an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and the Audience Award at Sundance. The film soon became an icon in contemporary cinematography.

He subsequently directed a series of successful films. Two earned recognition in Hollywood and in the international film community – the multi-awarded Erin Brockovich and Traffic, both made in 2000 and nominated for an Oscar in 2001 for Best Film and Best Director. It was the first time in 60 years that a director had been nominated in the same year for Best Director for two different films by the Academy Awards. Traffic won an Oscar for Best Direction and Benicio del Toro for Best Actor in the film while Julia Roberts received the Best Actress award for Erin Brockovich.

That same year, 2001, Soderbergh filmed Ocean´s Eleven which brought together a cast of first class actors: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace and Joshua Jackson. Two sequals - Ocean´s Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007) - followed.

Soderbergh created the production company Section Eight Productions with actor George Clooney, who appeared in films such as Out of Sight (1998), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Solaris (2002) and Ocean's Twelve (2004). The company produced films like Insomnia by Christopher Nolan before closing in August 2006.

During his long career as director, screen writer, producer and photographer, Soderbergh has received many awards and other forms of recognition, including three nominations for the Golden Bear in Berlin for his films The Good German (2006), Solaris (2002) and Traffic (2000). He was a member of the jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1990 and at Cannes in 2003, and was elected vice president of the Directors Guild of America in March 2002.

Soderbergh’s film about the life of Ernesto Ché Guevara, released in two parts, titled The Argentine and Guerrilla, was presented in the main competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. The epic four hour film featured a cast of international stars, including Puerto Rican Benicio del Toro, Spanish Javier Bardem, Mexican Demián Bichir, English Julia Ormond, Cuban Jorge Perugorria, Colombian Catalina Sandino, Brazilian Domingo Santoro and German Franka Potente.