Guillermo Arriaga
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Guillermo Arriaga Jordán (; born 13 March 1958) is a Mexican novelist, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as "a hunter who works as a writer," he is best known for his
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
and BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay nominations for '' Babel'' and his screenplay for ''
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada ''The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'' (also known as ''Three Burials'') is a 2005 neo-Western film directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It also stars Barry Pepper, Julio Cedillo, Dwight Yoakam, a ...
'', which received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award.


Early life

Arriaga was born on March 13, 1958 in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. At the age of 13, he lost his sense of smell after a brutal street fight that would later serve as inspiration for some of his work. Before engaging in his writing career, Arriaga tried out a variety of jobs and professions, including boxing and playing basketball and professional soccer. He completed a B.A. in Communications and a M.A. in Psychology at the Ibero-American University.


Career

While teaching at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Arriaga met future film director
Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu (born 15 August 1963) is a Mexican filmmaker primarily known for making modern psychological drama (film genre), psychological drama films about the human condition. His most notable films include ''Amores perros ...
and decided to make a feature length, multiplot film set in Mexico City. The result was '' Amores Perros'' (2000). The film received an
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
nomination for Best Foreign Film as well as a
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
Film Award for "Best Film not in the English Language," the "Critics Week Grand Prize" and "Young Critics Award" at the 2000
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, as well as many other awards from festivals and societies around the world. The success of '' Amores Perros'' earned Arriaga and Iñárritu an invitation to the U.S. to work on the Universal/
Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...
film ''
21 Grams ''21 Grams'' is a 2003 American crime thriller film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It is the second installment in the duo’s informal “Trilogy of Death,” preceded by ''Amores perros'' (2000) ...
'', starring
Benicio del Toro Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (; born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican actor. List of awards and nominations received by Benicio del Toro, His accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy ...
, Naomi Watts and
Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn, His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Gl ...
. Del Toro and Watts received
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations for their performances. González Iñárritu and Arriaga collaborated on a third movie, '' Babel'', to form a trilogy with his first two pictures focusing on the theme of death. However, friction between writer and director led to González Iñárritu banning Arriaga from attending the 2006 Cannes screening of ''Babel''. Nevertheless, González Iñárritu and Arriaga both received
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations for their work. On 19 January 2007, the film adaptation of his book '' El Búfalo de la Noche'' directed by Jorge Hernandez Aldana premiered 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 ...
. It features a score by Omar Rodríguez-López of
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. On 29 August 2008, '' The Burning Plain'' was premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Arriaga wrote the script and pitched it to American producers, who talked with some directors. Arriaga eventually directed the film, starring
Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 201 ...
. Arriaga objects to being called a " guionista" (Spanish for "screenwriter"); he advocates for screenwriters being referred to as "writers" and screenplays being referred to as "works of film." He has clarified that he has no objections to the term's use in English; his issue with "guionista" is that in Spanish the term has the wrong
connotation A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive or ...
s since the word also used to describe people who write tour
guidebook A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...
s. In 2011, Mexican producers including Arriaga, Alex Garcia, and Lucas Akoskin unveiled "Heartbeat of the World," an international cinema project with four films tackling topics including religion, sexuality, politics and drug addiction. Each of the four
feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
s consist of a collaborative set of 10
shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...
. The first film in the series—''Words with Gods''—includes contributions from Arriaga,
Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица, ; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, film producer and musician. Kusturica has been an active filmmaker since the 1980s. He has competed at the Cannes ...
, Brazil's Jose Padilha, Australia's
Warwick Thornton Warwick Thornton is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. His debut feature film '' Samson and Delilah'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awar ...
, Iran's Bahman Ghobadi, India's
Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company is Mirabai Films. Among her films are '' Mississippi Masala'', '' The Namesake'', the Golden Lion–winning '' Monsoon Wedding'', ...
, and Japan's Hideo Nakata. The three other films are the "drug-themed ''Into the Bloodstream''; ''Encounters'', a look at sexual identity and expression; and ''Polis'', which delves into political topics." Financing for all four movies have been secured, with each produced in 14 months. Guillermo Arriaga won the ''Premio Alfaguara de Novela'' for his novel, ''Salvar el fuego'' on January 24, 2020.


Non-profit work

Since 2005, Guillermo Arriaga has been one of the patrons of DreamAgo, an international screenwriters association.


Personal life

Arriaga is a teetotaler.


Filmography


Feature films


Short films


Selected works

*


References


External links

*
Interview with Guillermo Arriaga
at El Malpensante
Writing (and Filming) the Memories: Interview with Guillermo Arriaga on ''The Burning Plain''
by Matthew Sorrento (''Bright Lights Film Journal'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Arriaga, Guillermo 1958 births Universidad Iberoamericana alumni Academic staff of Universidad Iberoamericana Living people Mexican male screenwriters Writers from Mexico City Mexican film directors Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners Members of the Academia de Artes