Morelia International Film Festival

Stephen Frears is one of the most audacious and deliberately provocative filmmakers today. He studied law at Cambridge before working in the theater, as an assistant to Lindsay Anderson. He began his career in the film industry as assistant director to Karen Reisz. In 1971, he released his first feature Gumshoe. read more

Born in Philadelphia (1922), he grew up in New York and Philadelphia. He first appeared on stage in high school, and also worked as a radio announcer. He became a soldier in 1943/44 and served as an infantryman during the battle of Ardennes. In 1945/46 he became a member of an army... read more

Bertrand Tavernier has graced the cinematic landscape with a singular vision, a style marked by poetic vigor and elegant subversiveness, and a keen understanding of the nuances of the human character. His trajectory as a writer, producer, and director, reveals a profound exploration of the ethical implications of filmmaking, a sustained commitment to politically engaged storytelling... read more

Romanian writer director Cristian Mungiu caused a stir in cinema worldwide when he obtained the Palme d’Or this year at the Cannes Film Festival for his film 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. The highest prize awarded by the most prestigious film festival in Europe represented a triumph not just for this prodigious filmmaker, but for his country. It proved —as the filmmaker remarked, that it is not necessary to have exorbitant amounts of money or a cast of superstars to attract the public’s attention. Despite being only a second feature, 4 Months possesses a distinctive style and proves Mungiu is a master at directing his actors. read more

Visionary Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón has charmed Hollywood, Mexico and Europe with his relentlessly inventive and impeccably achieved films. But besides working in industries across the world, he has proved to be one of the most versatile storytellers of his generation –covering the spectrum of genres, with elegantly crafted family films like his break-through feature, a screen adaptation of the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess (1995), or the stylized third installment in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) to box office hits like the sexy coming-of-age pic Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001), and most recently, the dystopic near-future epic Children of Men (2006). read more

Alejandro González Iñárritu inaugurated the new era of Mexican Cinema with his widely successful Amores perros (2000), the first film in an ambitious trilogy that collectively aims to capture, through a visually intricate formal discourse and dense storylines, the fragility of humanity. With this first feature, Iñárritu breached new ground, daring to set his movie in the gargantuan 21st century Mexico City and subsequently spawning a new genre of urban cinema. The film gathered accolades around the world, captivating foreign and Mexican audiences. It revitalized Mexico’s film industry and paved the way for other filmmakers and actors to carve an influential niche in world cinema read more

The boldest and most controversial figure of the new wave of Mexican Filmmakers, Carlos Reygadas has, with just three feature films to his name, established an entirely new direction in Mexican cinema. Characterized by a highly contemplative camera, and a deftly assembled soundtrack, his films evoke uncanny atmospheres and produce images that penetrate with visceral force. Stunning views of the Mexican countryside and urbanscape are interspersed with unsightly yet strangely aestheticized shots of unconventional bodies engaging in almost mechanical sex acts. Intimacy, distilled from the crude choreography of bodies, and the drama of human relationships, finds itself projected onto landscapes, which, through calculated camera movements, acquire a quasi-spiritual magnetism. read more

He blew audiences away with his performance in the widely successful Amores perros, directed by his compatriot Alejandro González Iñárritu, became an international star with Walter Salles’s The Motorcycle Diaries, Pedro Almodóvar’s Bad Education, and more recently Babel with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Gael García Bernal is an eclectic actor who just as easily switches genders, accents, registers and countries. He alternates between shooting in Latin America, Europe and Hollywood. But more recently, he’s stepped to the other side of the screen, founding a company (with his accomplice Diego Luna) that produces (Drama/Mex), distributes (El violín) and promotes social documentary in Mexico. Emblematic of the new Mexican generation, Gael once again proves his versatility and talent with his directorial debut Déficit. read more

Filmmaker Hector Babenco has always felt an affinity for the marginalized: the abandoned, dispossessed, criminals, vagabonds and inmates. Before he began directing films, he spent 7 years traveling around the world and working as an extra on a number of productions. In 1969 he settled in Brazil. He has since directed more than ten award-winning features, making him perhaps the most successful and versatile filmmaker of the post-cinema novo generation. Heavily vested in the power of cinema to represent reality and to open up an ethical dimension from which to examine contemporary ills, Babenco has produced poignant works which speak to the truth of human suffering and perseverance. read more