Maria Ripoll Julià (born 1963) is a Spanish film director from Barcelona, with an international background and eight feature films to her credit. The success of her film '' It's Now or Never'' placed her as the highest-grossing Spanish female film director to that date.

Early life and career beginnings

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 ...

, Ripoll studied screenwriting in Los Angeles at the American Film Institute (AFI), where she shot the short film ''Kill Me Later''.

Directing career

Her first feature-length film, '' The Man with Rain in His Shoes'' starring

Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is an English actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO fantasy drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received ...

Douglas Henshall Douglas James "Dougie" Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series ''Primeval (TV series), Primeval'' (2007–2011) and D ...

and

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello and three Goya Awards. Cru ...

won Best Screenplay at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Sitges Film Festival SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia () is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. It specializes in fantasy film, fantasy, Horror film, horror and Cult film, cult films. Established in 1968, the festiva ...

, the Seattle Women’s Film Festival. It led to Ripoll being nominated for a

Goya Award The Goya Awards () are Spain's main national annual film awards. They are presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The first ceremony was held in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Ar ...

for Best New Director. She then directed '' Tortilla Soup'' in Los Angeles starring

Hector Elizondo In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

, Jacqueline Obradors,

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch (; September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her con ...

and

Elizabeth Peña Elizabeth Maria Peña (September 23, 1959 – October 14, 2014) was an American actress. Her film credits include '' Down and Out in Beverly Hills'' (1986), '' Batteries Not Included'', '' La Bamba'' (both 1987), ''Jacob's Ladder'' (1990) ...

. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr, it was a noted success, breaking Latin American stereotypes on its way to nine nominations at the

ALMA Awards The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and accurate portrayals of Latino ...

. She then shot a documentary in New York, ''WITNESS: Cameras Against Violence'', for Canal Plus. On her return to Spain, Ripoll shot her third feature film ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'', which enters the terrain of the fantastic thriller and premiered in 2003. In Barcelona she then directed ''Your Life in 65'', a film based on the play by Albert Espinosa. This film was invited to numerous festivals, including the AFI Los Angeles Film Festival and the Stockholm International Film Festival and was another success in Spain. For

Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea. T ...

(TVE) she directed ''Fame, Everything for a Dream'' and then turned to producing as well as directing ''Chromosome 5'', a documentary for TVE. It was well received in Spain and around the world, earning Best Picture in the Bosifest-Belgrade film festival amongst others. In 2014 she directed the indie drama '' Traces of Sandalwood'' starring Aina Clotet, a film shot in Mumbai and Barcelona in Hindi, English and Catalan. The film won the Gaudí Award in 2014 for best film and the Audience Award at the Montreal and Cinequest Festivals. Her next film, '' It's Now or Never'' premiered in June 2015. This romantic comedy starring Dani Rovira,

Maria Valverde Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

and

Clara Lago Clara Lago Grau (born 6 March 1990) is a Spanish actress. Career Clara Lago Grau was born on 6 March 1990 in Torrelodones, Community of Madrid. Lago made her feature film debut in '' Miserable Life'' (2000), providing the voice to Bea. She ...

was a summer blockbuster and turned Ripoll into Spain’s most successful and highest-grossing female film director in Spanish history. The film has been screened at the Montreal, Toronto and Miami Films Festivals. Her most recent film, the romantic comedy '' Don't Blame the Karma for Being an Idiot'' starring Verónica Echegui and Álex García, was based on the best-selling book with the same name. It premiered in November 2016, reaching number 1 in Spain during its second week and screening at the Miami Film Festival in March 2017.

Selected filmography

* '' También esto pasará'' (2025) * '' Yo no soy esa'' (2024) *'' We Won't Kill Each Other with Guns'' (2022) *'' Live Twice, Love Once'' (2019) *'' Don't Blame the Karma for Being an Idiot'' (2016) *'' It's Now or Never'' (2015) *'' Traces of Sandalwood'' (2014) *''

'' (2003) *'' Tortilla Soup'' (2001) *'' The Man with Rain in His Shoes'' (1998)

Awards and nominations

References

External links