Amat Escalante (born 28 February 1979) is a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

film director, producer and screenwriter. He is most well known for directing the controversial Mexican crime thriller ''

Heli Heli, also ''heli'', ''heli-'' may refer to: People *Heli, King of Britain (mythical) *Heli (Bible), listed as an ancestor of Jesus *Heli (name) Places * Heli, Tangyuan County (鹤立镇), town in Tangyuan County, Heilongjiang, China * Heli, Funi ...

'' for which he was awarded the best director prize award at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and ...

, and for directing the 2016 Mexican drama '' The Untamed'' for which he received the

Silver Lion The Silver Lion ( it, Leone d'argento, also known as Silver Lion for Best Direction) is an annual award presented for best directing achievements in a feature film at official competition section of the Venice Film Festival since 1998. The pri ...

for best director at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.

Biography

Escalante was incidentally born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

while his parents — a Mexican father and an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

mother — had been living in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. He spent most of his early years in

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, but moved to Spain in 2001 to study film editing and sound at the Center for Cinematographic Studies of Catalonia (''Centre d'Estudis Cinematogràfics de Catalunya, CECC'') and apply for Spanish citizenship; which he failed to secure. After his stint in Barcelona, he joined the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

an institution founded by

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winner

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

Fernando Birri Fernando Birri (March 13, 1925 – December 27, 2017) was an Argentine film maker and theorist. He was considered by many to be the father of the new Latin American cinema. Biography Birri was born in Santa Fe, Argentina. After being involved in ...

and the

Julio García Espinosa Julio García Espinosa (5 September 1926 – 13 April 2016) was a Cuban film director and screenwriter. Back in Mexico, he directed a short film (''Amarrados'', 2002) that received an award at the 2003

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

. He worked as an assistant of

Carlos Reygadas Carlos Reygadas Castillo (; born October 10, 1971) is a Mexican filmmaker. Influenced by existentialist art and philosophy, Reygadas' movies feature spiritual journeys into the inner worlds of his main characters, through which themes of love, ...

in '' Batalla en el cielo'' (2005), which entered the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival started on 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on 21 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Belgian film '' L'Enfant'' by Dardenne brothers ...

. During the filming of the movie, both became close friends, and Reygadas ended up co-producing some of Escalante's first films. One of those films, '' Sangre'' (2005), filmed in November 2004 with a budget of US$60,000, was included in ''

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

'' (a section of the same festival) and in both

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and

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the ...

. His film ''

'' was selected to compete for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

and was awarded the prize for Best Director by a jury presided by U.S. film director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

. Escalante won the

for Best Direction for his film. In 2016, his film '' The Untamed'' was selected to compete in the

73rd Venice International Film Festival The 73rd annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2016. English director Sam Mendes was the President of the Jury for the main competition. The opening night film was Damien Chazelle's musical ''La La Lan ...

Filmography

* '' Amarrados'' (2002), producer * '' The Legend of Pete Jones'' (2005), cinematographer * '' Sangre'' (2005), director, producer, screenwriter, For which he won the "Film Critics and Press Award" * ''

Los bastardos ''Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Los Bastardos'' ('') is a 2018 Philippine drama television series under '' Precious Hearts Romances'' loosely based on the Filipino pocket book novel ''Cardinal Bastards'' by Vanessa, starring Ronaldo Valdez, ...

'' (2008), director, producer, screenwriter * ''

'' (2013), director, associate producer, screenwriter * '' The Untamed'' (2016), director, producer, screenwriter *'' Narcos: Mexico'' (2020), director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Escalante, Amat 1979 births Ariel Award winners Best Director Ariel Award winners Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners Venice Best Director Silver Lion winners Living people Mexican filmmakers Mexican film directors Mexican film producers Mexican screenwriters Writers from Guanajuato Spanish film directors

Biography

Filmography

See also

References

External links