Lately, Latin-American cinema has been getting more attention. Even though historically, European and American cinema were considered to have the most influence on world cinema, films from other parts of our planet are getting more recognition now with both old and new filmmakers being talked about.
Moreover, many Latin-American directors particularly are seeing success both with critics and at the box office with such movies as Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity and Alejandro González Iñárritu's The Revenant dominating the box office while also taking home numerous awards.
10 Walter Salles
Walter Salles can be considered somewhat of an unusual filmmaker as his work consists of equal parts documentaries and fictional feature films. Moreover, he began directing documentaries back in 1986 and is still working today.
His feature film debut came in 1991 with the Brazilian movie A Grande Arte. Salles' big break was his 1998 drama Central Station which was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Foreign Language Film and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His other acclaimed works include Behind the Sun and The Motorcycle Diaries both of which were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
9 Juan José Campanella
The Argentine director Juan José Campanella is already considered an established and prominent director in his home country, but he is quickly getting more attention on the international scene as well.
Campanella's directorial debut was the 1991 American independent movie The Boy Who Cried Bitch which he directed after graduating from NYU film school. But his first big success came with the 2001 Argentine film Son of the Bride which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Campanella's most well-known work to date is definitely The Secret in Their Eyes which won the Academy Award this time around.
8 Alfonso Arau
Though the Mexican director Alfonso Arau started out as an actor (some of his acting credits include The Wild Bunch, Three Amigos, and Romancing the Stone), he eventually transitioned to directing.
Arau's two most well-known works are 1992's Like Water for Chocolate and 1995's A Walk in the Clouds. The former was based on the novel written by Arau's then-wife Laura Esquivel, became the highest-grossing non-English-language film ever released in the United States at the time, and even got nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie's success allowed Arau to direct A Walk in the Clouds which starred the then-up-and-coming star Keanu Reeves.
7 Fernando Meirelles
Unlike most directors, Fernando Meirelles was first introduced to filmmaking by his father who liked directing himself. At the moment, Meirelles is one of the most prominent and successful Brazilian directors working in the industry though his career began way back in the 1980s.
Meirelles started out directing documentaries and then switched to feature films. His first big break (and probably the most acclaimed work of his to this day) was 2002's City of God which received four Academy Award nominations and is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of the 21st century. Meirelles' The Constant Gardener also received four Academy Award nominations with Rachel Weisz winning for Best Supporting Actress. Meirelles' most recent drama The Two Popes also received nominations at multiple awards.
6 Alejandro Amenábar
Not all Latin-American directors come from a single country. In fact, many of them - much like their European colleagues - have mixed ancestry and such is the case for the modern Spanish-Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar.
Amenábar made his directorial debut with 1996's Thesis which was very metafilmic in nature and became critically acclaimed. He then directed Open Your Eyes which would then get an American remake titled Vanilla Sky and starring Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz (who reprised her role). Amenábar went on to direct The Others starring Nicole Kidman which got two BAFTA Award nominations and one Golden Globe nomination and The Sea Inside starring Javier Bardem which won the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award and Golden Globe Award.
5 Alejandro Jodorowsky
To an extent, it seems, the Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky is more known for what he didn't make rather than what he did make: the 2013 documentary Jodorowsky's Dune explores why the director didn't end up adapting Frank Herbert's iconic sci-fi novel. But Jodorowsky is a successful director even without that.
He made his directorial debut with 1968's Mexican film Fando y Lis which was shot in high-contrast black-and-white giving it an unusual look. Jodorowsky's two most well-known works are El Topo and The Holy Mountain both of which are considered avant-garde and surrealist classics.
4 Luis Bunuel
Though Luis Bunuel was born in Spain, he became a naturalized Mexican at the age of 49 and worked in France, Mexico, and Spain becoming an internationally acclaimed director. In fact, he is considered a prominent figure in the surrealist and avant-garde movement despite working in multiple genres.
Bunuel's first directorial work was the 1929 short silent film Un Chien Andalou which is studied and viewed to this day. His first major success was 1950's The Young and the Damned which was heavily criticized upon release yet won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and is now considered a classic. Bunuel's Viridiana won the Palme d'Or at Cannes while Belle de Jour won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival - both are considered some of the greatest films ever made. Bunuel's later films such as Tristana, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and The Obscure Object of Desire all got nominated at the Academy Awards with The Discreet Charm winning for Best Foreign Language Film.
3 Guillermo del Toro
It's no secret that Guillermo del Toro is close friends with the two other prominent Mexican directors working today (Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón) with the trio being collectively known as "The Three Amigos of Cinema". And their acclaim and success stem from their immense talent and hard work.
Del Toro's directorial debut, 1993's Cronos, was met with critical acclaim and was even selected as the Mexican entry for the Academy Awards but didn't make the cut. After directing Mimic and The Devil's Backbone, del Toro went on to direct big-budget movies like Blade II and Hellboy (for which he also directed a sequel later on) before directing critically-acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth which went on to be nominated for multiple awards. del Toro also directed Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak, and the Academy Award-winning The Shape of Water.
2 Alejandro González Iñárritu
Undoubtedly, Alejandro González Iñárritu is among the most successful directors working today - not just in his own country but internationally. Moreover, this worldwide success is probably tied to the fact that Iñárritu loves telling international stories and his films always have diverse casts.
Iñárritu's directorial debut was 2000's Amores perros which was the first installment in his Trilogy of Death and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The two films that followed were also a part of the trilogy: 21 Grams which was nominated for two Oscars and Babel which won the Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Drama, and got seven Oscar nominations. Biutiful won the Best Actor at Cannes for Javier Bardem and was nominated for two Oscars. But the most successful works of Iñárritu are definitely his two latest films: Birdman which won four Oscars and The Revenant which won three Oscars. In both cases, Iñárritu took home the Best Director award.
1 Alfonso Cuarón
Along with his countrymen, Alfonso Cuarón has distinguished himself as one of the greatest directors of our time. Working in different genres, Cuarón has been both critically and commercially successful as well as becoming the first Latin American to win the Academy Award for Best Director.
Cuarón's directorial debut was 1991's Solo con tu pareja, but his first success came with his second film - A Little Princess which was nominated for two Oscars. Y tu mamá también was a massive hit and got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Cuarón followed these achievements with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which got two Oscar nominations and is still considered to be the best installment in the franchise by many fans and Children of Men which was nominated for three Oscars and is widely considered to be one of the best movies of the 21st century. His latest films, Gravity and Roma, both received multiple award nominations winning seven and three Oscars respectively. For both films, Cuarón won the Best Director award just like Iñárritu did.
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