Best Mexican Directors

Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, del Toro executive produced his first feature, Dona Herlinda and Her Son (1985). Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980s. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.

Del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1992) won nine Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars), then went on to win the International Critics Week Prize at Cannes. Following this success, del Toro made his first Hollywood film, Mimic (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.

Del Toro had some unfortunate experiences working with a demanding Hollywood studio on Mimic (1997), and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang.

Next for del Toro, was The Devil's Backbone (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel, Blade II (2002).

On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II (2002) with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy (2004), starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.

Del Toro is divorced, has a daughter and a son and lives in Los Angeles and Toronto.

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then immediately started to film everything he saw, showing it afterwards to everyone. In his teen years, films were his hobby. Sometimes he said to his mother he would go to a friend's home, when in fact he would go to the cinema. His ambition was to know every theatre in the city. Near his house there were two studios, Studios Churubusco and Studios 212. After finishing school, Cuarón decided to study cinema right away. He tried to study at C.C.C. (Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica) but wasn't accepted because at that time they weren't accepting students under twenty-four years old. His mother didn't support that idea of cinema, so he studied philosophy in the morning and in the afternoon he went to the C.U.E.C. (Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos). During that time he met many people who would later become his collaborators and friends. One of them was Luis Estrada. Cuaron also became good friends with Carlos Marcovich and Emmanuel Lubezki. Luis Estrada directed a short called "Vengance is Mine", on which Alfonso and Emmanuel collaborated. The film was in English, a fact which bothered many teachers of the C.U.E.C. such as Marcela Fernández Violante. The disagreement caused such arguments that in 1985, Alfonso was expelled from the university.

During his time studying at C.U.E.C. he met Mariana Elizondo, and with her he had his first son, Jonás Cuarón. After Alfonso was expelled, he thought he could never be a director and so went on to work in a Museum so he could sustain his family. One day, José Luis García Agraz and Fernando CáMara went to the museum and made an offer to Cuarón. They asked him to work as cable person in "La víspera (1982)", a job which was to prove to be his salvation. After that he was assistant director in Garcia Agraz's "Nocaut (1984)", as well as numerous other films.

He was also second unit director in "Gaby: A True Story (1987)", and co-wrote and directed some episodes in the series "A Hora Marcada (1967)". One New Year's Eve, he decided he would not continue to be an assistant director, and with his brother Carlos started writing what would be his first feature film: "Love in the Time of Hysteria (1991)" (Love in the time of Hysteria). After the screenplay was written, the problem became how to get financial backing for the movie. I.M.C.I.N.E. (Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografia), which supports movies financially, had already decided which projects it would support that year, much to Alfonso's initial chagrin. However, the director of one of those already-chosen projects was unable to direct it, so his project was canceled, and "Sólo con tu pareja" took its place. Despite this being chosen, there was a lot of tension between Alfonso and the I.M.C.I.N.E. executives. Nevertheless, after the movie was finished, it was a huge success. In Toronto festival the films won many awards, and Alfonso started to be noticed by Hollywood producers. Sydney Pollack was the first one to invite him to shoot in Hollywood. He proposed a feature film to be directed by Alfonso, but the project didn't work and was canceled. Alfonso moved to Los Angeles without anything concrete, and stayed with some friends, as he had no money. Soon after that, Pollack called him again to direct an episode called "Murder, Obliquely (1993)" of the series "Fallen Angels (1993)", that was the first job he had in U.S., and also the first time he worked with Alan Rickman.

After a while, and no real directing jobs, Alfonso wanted to direct something as he needed money. He finally signed a contract with Warner Brothers to direct the film Addicted to Love (1995). However, one night, he read the screenplay for another film, A Little Princess (1995) and fell in love with it. He talked to Warner Brothers and after some meetings he gave up directing "Addicted to Love" in order to do "A Little Princess". Even thought it wasn't a great box office success, the film received two nominations for the Oscars, and won many other awards. After "A Little Princess" Alfonso developed a project with Richard Gere starring. The project was canceled, but Cuarón got an offer from Twentieth Century Fox to direct the modern adaptation of the Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations (1998). He initially didn't want to direct it but the studio insisted, and in the end he accepted it. The experience was very painful and difficult for him mainly because there was never a definitive screenplay.

He then reunited with producer Jorge Vergara and founded both Anhelo Productions and Moonson Productions. Anhelo's first picture was also Alfonso's next film, the erotic road movie "Y tu mamá también (2001)", which was a huge success. During the promotion of the film in Venice, Alfonso met the cinema critic Annalisa Bugliani. They started dating and married that same year. "Children of Men (2006)" was to be Alfonso's next film, a futuristic, dystopian story. During the pre-production of the film, Warner Brothers invited Alfonso to direct the third Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)", an offer which he accepted after some consideration. The film would prove to be the greatest box office success of his career.

In 2003, he had a daughter named Bu Cuaron, and in February 2005 another son, called Olmo Teodoro Cuarón. Alfonso Cuarón signed a three-year first-look deal with Warner Brothers, which allowed his films to be distributed world-wide. He directed one five-minute segment of the anthology film Paris, Je T'aime (2006) with Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier. His next project, the futuristic film Children of Men (2006) with Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 having been nominated for three Academy Awards. After his youngest son was diagnosed with autism and the divorce from Annalisa Bugliani he took a break from directing and settled in London where he plans to work on his next projects.

In 2013, Alfonso directed the space thriller Gravity (2013), which would go win 7 academy awards.

Alfonso is the only filmmaker to have ever won twice for a clean sweep for the awards, for "Gravity" and "Roma", for Best Director at the Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and DGA Awards.

Arturo Ripstein began his career as assistant director (unbilled) of Luis Buñuel in Ángel exterminador, El (1962). His father, Alfredo Ripstein, Jr. produced his first film, a western written by Gabriel García Márquez titled Tiempo de morir (1965). Ripstein filmography is very praised in Mexico and Europe. He is considered the best Mexican director alive. Many of his films are related with an unique subject: the loneliness of souls. So, his style re flects his main concerns. Ripstein's films are somber, slow and depressive.

Felipe Cazals was born on 28 July 1937 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He was a director and writer, known for The Year of the Plague (1979), Las vueltas del citrillo (2005) and Canoa: A Shameful Memory (1976). He was married to Rosa Eugenia Báez de Cazals. He died on 16 October 2021 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

Juan Carlos Rulfo was born on 24 January 1964 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is a director and producer, known for En el hoyo (2006), Those Who Remain (2008) and Del olvido al no me acuerdo (1999). He is married to Valentina Leduc Navarro. They have one child.

Julián Hernández was born on 9 January 1973 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is a writer and director, known for A Thousand Clouds of Peace (2003), Long Sleepless Nights (2000) and Dos entre muchos (2022).

Alejandro González Iñárritu (ih-nyar-ee-too), born August 15th, 1963, is a Mexican film director.

González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. He is also the first Mexican-born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene or best director award at Cannes (2006), the second one being Carlos Reygadas in 2012. His six feature films, 'Amores Perros' (2000), '21 Grams' (2003), 'Babel' (2006), 'Biutiful' (2010), 'Birdman' (2014) and 'The Revenant' (2015), have gained critical acclaim world-wide including two Academy Award nominations.

Alejandro González Iñárritu was born in Mexico City.

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a cargo ship at the ages of seventeen and nineteen years, González Iñárritu worked his way across Europe and Africa. He himself has noted that these early travels as a young man have had a great influence on him as a film-maker. The setting of his films have often been in the places he visited during this period.

After his travels, González Iñárritu returned to Mexico City and majored in communications at Universidad Iberoamericana. In 1984, he started his career as a radio host at the Mexican radio station WFM, a rock and eclectic music station. In 1988, he became the director of the station. Over the next five years, González Iñárritu spent his time interviewing rock stars, transmitting live concerts, and making WFM the number one radio station in Mexico. From 1987 to 1989, he composed music for six Mexican feature films. He has stated that he believes music has had a bigger influence on him as an artist than film itself.

In the nineties, González Iñárritu created Z films with Raul Olvera in Mexico. Under Z Films, he started writing, producing and directing short films and advertisements. Making the final transition into T.V Film directing, he studied under well-known Polish theatre director Ludwik Margules, as well as Judith Weston in Los Angeles.

In 1995, González Iñárritu wrote and directed his first T.V pilot for Z Films, called Detras del dinero, -"Behind the Money", starring Miguel Bosé. Z Films went on to be one of the biggest and strongest film production companies in Mexico, launching seven young directors in the feature film arena. In 1999, González Iñárritu directed his first feature film Amores perros, written by Guillermo Arriaga. Amores perros explored Mexican society in Mexico City told via three intertwining stories. In 2000, Amores perros premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Critics Weeks Grand Prize. It also introduced audiences for the first time to Gael García Bernal. Amores perros went on to be nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards.

After the success of Amores Perros, González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga revisited the intersecting story structure of Amores perros in González Iñárritu's second film, 21 Grams. The film starred Benicio del Toro, Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, and was presented at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Volpi Cup for actor Sean Penn. At the 2004 Academy Awards, Del Toro and Watts received nominations for their performances.

In 2005 González Iñárritu embarked on his third film, Babel, set in 4 countries on 3 continents, and in 4 different languages. Babel consists of four stories set in Morocco, Mexico, the United States, and Japan. The film stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Adriana Barraza. The majority of the rest of the cast, however, was made up of non-professional actors and some new actors, such as Rinko Kikuchi. It was presented at Cannes 2006, where González Iñárritu earned the Best Director Prize (Prix de la mise en scène). Babel was released in November 2006 and received seven nominations at the 79th Annual Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director nominated for a DGA award and for an Academy Award. Babel went on to win Best Motion Picture in the drama category at the Golden Globe Awards on January 15, 2007. Gustavo Santaolalla won the Academy Award that year for Best Original Score. After Babel, Alejandro and his writing partner Guillermo Arriaga professionally parted ways, following González Iñárritu barring Arriaga from the set during filming (Arriaga told the LA Times in 2009 "It had to come to an end, but I still respect González Iñárritu").

In 2008 and 2009, González Iñárritu directed and produced Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem, written by González Iñárritu, Armando Bo, and Nicolas Giacobone. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festial on May 17, 2010. Bardem went on to win Best Actor (shared with Elio Germano for La nostra vita) at Cannes. Biutiful is González Iñárritu's first film in his native Spanish since his debut feature Amores perros. For the second time in his career his film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. It was also nominated for the 2011 Golden Globes in the category of Best Foreign Film, for the 2011 BAFTA awards in the category of Best Film Not in the English Language and Best Actor. Javier Bardem's performance was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor.

In 2014, González Iñárritu directed Birdman, starring Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Andrea Riseborough. The film is Iñárritu's first comedy. Birdman is about an actor who played an iconic superhero, and who tries to revive his career by doing a play based on the Raymond Carver short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The film was released on October 17, 2014.

In April 2014, it was announced that González Iñárritu's next film as a director will be The Revenant, which he co-wrote with Mark L. Smith. It is based on the novel of same name by Michael Punke. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Will Poulter with shooting began in September 2014, for a December 25, 2015 release.The Revenant is being filmed in Alberta and B.C. with production scheduled to wrap in February 2015. The film will be a 19th Century period piece, and is described as a "gritty thriller" about a fur trapper who seeks revenge against a group of men who robbed and abandoned him after he was mauled by a grizzly bear.

From 2001 to 2011, González Iñárritu directed several short films.

In 2001, he directed an 11 minute film segment for 11.09.01- which is composed of several short films that explore the effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks from different points of view around the world.

In 2007, he made ANNA which screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival inside Chacun son cinéma. It was part of the 60th anniversary of the film festival and it was a series of shorts by 33 world-renown film directors.

In 2012, he made the experimental short film Naran Ja: One Act Orange Dance - inspired by L.A Dance Project's premiere performance. The short features excerpts of the new choreography Benjamin Millepied crafted for Moving Parts. The story takes place in a secluded, dusty space and centers around LADP dancer Julia Eichten.

In 2001/2002, González Iñárritu directed "Powder Keg", an episode for the BMW film series The Hire, starring Clive Owen as the driver.

In 2010, González Iñárritu directed Write the Future, a football-themed commercial for Nike ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which went on to win Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions advertising festival.

In 2012, he directed Procter and Gamble's "Best Job" commercial spot for the 2012 Olympic Ceremonies. It went on to win the Best Primetime Commercial Emmy at Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Luis Mandoki was born on 17 August 1954 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is a director and producer, known for Innocent Voices (2004), Angel Eyes (2001) and Trapped (2002).

Alfonso Arau has had a long and fruitful career both in front of and behind the camera and is one of the most prominent Latino film-makers in Hollywood. He was a drama disciple of Seki Sano--a Japanese teacher, classmate of Lee Strasberg with Konstantin Stanislavski in Russia--and traveled the world from 1964 to 1968 with his one-man show, "Pantomime Happy Madness", after studying with Etienne Decroux and Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

A renowned writer-producer-director-actor in theater and film for more than twenty years, in 1969 he directed his first feature film, El águila descalza (1971), in which he also starred. He has directed many films in Mexico, among them Inspector Calzonzin (1974) and Mojado Power (1981). He has received six Arieles--the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar--and numerous international film awards.

Arau has acted in a number of Mexican and Hollywood films, including The Wild Bunch (1969), El Topo (1970), Mojado Power (1981), Used Cars (1980), Romancing the Stone (1984), Three Amigos! (1986) and Committed (2000). In addition to Like Water for Chocolate (1992), his directing credits include A Walk in the Clouds (1995) with Keanu Reeves and Picking Up the Pieces (2000) with Woody Allen. For television he has done The Magnificent Ambersons (2001), based on the script of Orson Welles' film version (The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)) and the novel by Booth Tarkington.

With only three feature films, Carlos Carrera is considered one of the best young directors of the new Mexican cinema. He began as an animator at 12 years old and wrote, produced and directed a number of animated-shorts before filming his first live-action movie, a docummentary short titled Vestidito Blanco como la Leche Nido, Un (1989). He studied filmmaking at the Training Center of Cinematography (Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica) in Mexico City. After that, Carrera made his first feature, Mujer de Benjamín, La (1991). This film won the Mexican Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and many prizes in film festivals. After his second feature film, Vida conyugal, La (1993), Carrera made Héroe, El (1994), an animated short winner of the Golden Palm at Cannes Festival.

Hermosillo was one of the most successful Mexican directors. Born in Aguascalientes, a small city in central Mexico, Hermosillo's films dissected the hypocrisy of Mexican middle class and "torn the curtain" behind which many perversities are hidden. He became an important figure in Mexican contemporary cinema, and was known for treating themes of sexual diversity from a personal approach. One of the few openly gay Mexican directors, Hermosillo found great success with Doña Herlinda y su hijo (1985), a comedy about a mother of a gay doctor who manipulates her son, his male lover and his fiancée to fulfill her desire of becoming a grandmother. Homosexual themes in Hermosillo's films can be found in Matinee, El Cumpleaños del Perro, and Las apariencias engañan (1978). Hermosillo was also an explorer of film language. La Tarea is one of the most complex exercises in film style in recent years (the film consists of one long shot, from the POV of a camcorder). Hermosillo's films presented a fresh look at Mexican society. A strong advocate of digital cinema, he made ten feature films in this format.

Alfredo Gurrola was born on 11 August 1943 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Llámenme Mike (1979), El escuadrón de la muerte (1986) and Días de combate (1982).

Luis Estrada was born on January 17, 1962 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is a writer and director, known for his films that openly criticize the Mexican political system and the controversial issues that revolve around it, like El Infierno (2010), La Ley de Herodes (1999) and La Dictadura Perfecta (2014).

He was born in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. He studied Communication Sciences at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. He has a master's degree in Meso American Studies from the UNAM.

He filmed a documentary trilogy of the Mexican Revolution consisting on the films Los Últimos zapatistas (The Last Zapatistas, 2002), Pancho Villa, la Revolución no ha terminado (Pancho Villa, The Revolution is Not Over, 2006) and 13 Pueblos en defensa del agua, el aire y la tierra (13 Pueblos Defending Water, Air and Land, 2009). Winner of several international awards, his cinematic proposal consists of conciliating the social and militant message with the aesthetics of dignity, a concept he has put into practice in his films. A linguistic rights activist for native people, the Mexican cinema critic Jorge Ayala Blanco in "La Justeza del cine mexicano", points out that "Francesco Taboada has become our greatest revolutionist historic filmmaker".

Tin Tan (2010) honors the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema through the great comedian Germán Valdés. His award winner film Maguey (2014), tells the story of indigenous communities fighting for their culture and natural resources.

His most recent feature film, Obispo Rojo (Red Bishop, 2024,) tells the story of the human rights fighter bishop Sergio Méndez Arceo, who confronted the Inquisition and challenged Latin American dictatorships to achieve the world's spiritual revolution.

Francisco Vargas was born on 25 April 1968 in Ixtapaluca, Estado de Mexico, Mexico. He is a writer and director, known for The Violin (2005), Tierra caliente... Se mueren los que la mueven (2004) and Casa Caracol (2017).

Fons studied film production in the Universitary Center of Film Studies at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), belonging to the very first generation of Mexican directors who studied to become filmmakers. His short film Caridad (1973) -part of the trilogy Fe Esperanza y Caridad (1973)- is still considered one of the best movies in Mexican cinema. His career has peaked recently with two of the most remarkable films of recent Mexican movie history: Red Dawn (1990) and El Midaq Alley (1995).

Carlos Kuri is known for Héroes verdaderos (2010), El Show de los Tecolotes (2016) and Moments of Impact (2009).

Everardo González was born on 31 December 1971 in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Los ladrones viejos. Las leyendas del artegio (2007), Devil's Freedom (2017) and La canción del pulque (2003).

Patricia Riggen was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She is a director and producer, known for The 33 (2015), La milpa (2002) and Under the Same Moon (2007). She is married to Checco Varese. They have one child.

Roberto Sneider was born in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is a director and producer, known for You're Killing Me Susana (2016), Tear This Heart Out (2008) and Shameless (2011).

Mariana Chenillo was born on 23 July 1977 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico. She is a director and writer, known for Nora's Will (2008), Paradise (2013) and Sucedió en un día (2010).

Jorge Pérez Solano was born on 30 March 1964 in Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, Mexico. He is a director and editor, known for Perpetual Sadness (2014), Black Mexicans (2018) and Espiral (2008).

René Cardona III was born on 1 April 1962 in Mexico City, Mexico. He was a director and actor, known for Shriek of Terror (1991), Fray Justicia (2009) and Un brillante propósito (2009). He died on 16 May 2021 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Alejandro Monteverde was born on 13 July 1977 in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He is a director and writer, known for Sound of Freedom (2023), Little Boy (2015) and Bella (2006). He has been married to Ali Landry Monteverde since 8 April 2006. They have three children.

The most successful woman director of Mexican cinema studied Sociology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Film Production at the University Center of Film Studies (CUEC) in Mexico City. She began her career as assistant director of Alberto Cortés in Amor a la vuelta de la esquina (1984). After some live-action shorts made in Super 8 and 16 mm., Novaro made Azul celeste (1988), a short about a pregnant woman looking for her husband in Mexico City. This short was an episode of a feature film called Historias de la ciudad (1988). Lola (1989) was her first feature film, followed by Danzón (1991), the short Otoñal (1992) and Jardín del edén, El (1994). Novaro has been considered an expressionist director because of the importance of colors in her films. Her work has been praised in Europe, specially in Spain, France and the United Kingdom. In Mexico she's considered a pioneer in an industry mostly dominated by men. Danzon was an instant hit in Mexico and was well received overseas.