Luis Mandoki (born August 17, 1954) is a Mexican

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, working in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Early life and education

Luis Mandoki was born on August 17, 1954 in Mexico City. His parents are

Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...

. He studied

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

in Mexico, and at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

, the

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

and the London International Film School. While attending this last institution, he directed his first short film ''Silent Music'' which won an award at the International Amateur Film Festival of

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 ...

in 1976.

Career

Back in Mexico, he directed short films and documentaries for the

Instituto Nacional Indigenista The National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (, INPI, Tzotzil language, Tzotzil: ''Instituto Ta Sjunul Jlumaltik Sventa Batsi Jnaklometik,'' Qʼeqchiʼ language, Q'eqchi': ''Molam Tk’anjelaq Chi Rixeb’ Laj Ralch’och’'', Ixil language, Ixil ...

(the National Institute for the Indigenous), Conacine (National Commission of Film) and the Centro de Produccion de Cortometraje (Center for the Production of Short Films). He received an

Ariel Award The Ariel Award () is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award reco ...

of the Mexican Academy of Film for his short film ''El secreto'' in 1980. His film ''Motel'' was selected to represent Mexico in film festivals around the globe in 1984. At the age of 30, he developed, wrote, produced and directed '' Gaby: A True Story'' (1987), a movie about the struggles of disability activist Gaby Brimer. This film was nominated for both the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

s. For the next 15 years, he filmed only in English until the critically acclaimed ''

Voces inocentes The human voice consists of sound Voice production, made by a human being using the vocal tract, including Speech, talking, singing, Laughter, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically ...

'' of 2004. This film gave him a ''Best Director'' nomination for the Ariel Award in 2005. The film also received three awards and was nominated for ''Best Film''. The film was selected to represent Mexico for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

and had a box-office output of 49.4 million pesos (roughly 4.5 million U.S. dollars) and was seen by 1.5 million people. Mandoki resides 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 ...

with his wife, Olivia, and three children Camille, Daniel and Michelle.

Filmography

* ''Mundo mágico'' (1980) * ''Campeche, un estado de ánimo'' (1980) * ''El secreto'' (1980) * ''Papaloapan'' (1982) * ''Motel'' (1984) * '' Gaby: A True Story'' (1987) * ''The Edge'' (TV, 1989) * '' White Palace'' (1990) * '' Born Yesterday'' (1993) * '' When a Man Loves a Woman'' (1994) * ''

Message in a Bottle A message in a bottle (abbrev. MIB) is a form of communication in which a message is sealed in a container (typically a bottle) and released into a conveyance medium (typically a body of water). Messages in bottles have been used to send distres ...

'' (1999) * '' Angel Eyes'' (2001) * '' Trapped'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * '' ¿Quién es el señor López?'' (2006) (TV) * ''Fraude: México 2006'' (2007) * '' La vida precoz y breve de Sabina Rivas'' (2012) * '' Presencias'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Luis Mandoki
at the San Diego Latino Film Festival
Luis Mandoki
at Filmbug
Videostream of Who is Mr. Lopez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandoki, Luis 1954 births Living people Alumni of the London College of Printing Alumni of the London Film School Mexican film directors Film directors from Mexico City Mexican people of Hungarian descent San Francisco Art Institute alumni Mexican people of Hungarian-Jewish descent