Alfredo De Villa is a Mexican director. He is best known for directing award winning films such as '' Adrift in Manhattan'', which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 2007, and '' Washington Heights'', which won a special mention for directing and acting at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

Early life

De Villa was born in Puebla, Mexico. He earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

and his

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

from the film division of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, with an emphasis in directing.

Career

De Villa's two short films,'' Joe’s Egg'' and ''Neto’s Run'' were both awarded the Best Latino Director Award from the ''

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

'' in 1995 and 1999, he is the only filmmaker to be awarded this honor twice.filmmakermagazine.com
/ref> De Villa has gone on to direct many acclaimed feature films.

Personal life

De Villa currently resides in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Filmography

Film

* ''Fugly!'' (2013) * ''Harlistas: An American Journey'' (2011) * '' Nothing like the Holidays'' (2008) * '' Adrift in Manhattan'' (2007) * ''

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

'' (2006) * '' Washington Heights'' (2002) * ''Neto's Run'' (1998) * ''Joe's Egg'' (1995)

Awards and nominations

* Nominated, Grand Jury Prize: ''Adrift in Manhattan'' (2007) San Diego Film Festival * Winner, Best Director: ''Adrift in Manhattan'' (2007)

Indianapolis International Film Festival Indy Film Fest, formerly known as the Indianapolis International Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Indianapolis, United States. The festival champions films that entertain, challenge, and expand perspectives in Indianapolis and b ...

* Winner, Best Narrative Feature: ''Adrift in Manhattan'' (2007)

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

* Nominated, Open Palm Award: ''Washington Heights'' (2003)

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...

* Winner, Best Feature Film ''Washington Heights'' (2002)

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episodi ...

* Winner, Audience Award, Best Feature Film ''Washington Heights'' (2002)

* Winner, Special Mention for ''Washington Heights'' (2002)

References

External links

*
Sundance Profiles, Alfredo De Villa
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Villa, Alfredo Mexican film directors Living people People from Puebla Mexican screenwriters Mexican male screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people)