Pablo Berger Uranga (born 1963) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He is known for directing and writing the silent drama film '' Blancanieves'' (2012), the black comedy films '' Torremolinos 73'' (2003) and ''

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an Apotropaic magic, apotropaic incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. The actual origin is unknown, but one of the first appearances of the word was in a second-century work ...

'' (2017), and the animated tragicomedy film '' Robot Dreams'' (2023), the latter was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...

Life and work

Berger attended primary and secondary school in Artxanda Trueba, located on the outskirts of

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, Spain. In 1988 he directed his first

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

, ''Mamá'' (''Mum''), with artistic director Álex de la Iglesia and Ramon Barea. With the financial winnings from a grant from the Provincial Council of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, he went to study for a master’s in film at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. There he directed his short film ''Truth and Beauty'', for which he was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. After getting his Ph.D., Berger worked as a professor of management at the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

. Thereafter, he began a parallel career as a

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

and producer of music, culminating in 2003 with his first film '' Torremolinos 73'', with Javier Cámara,

Fernando Tejero Fernando Tejero Muñoz-Torrero (born 24 February 1967) is a Spanish actor. Among his work, he has acted in multiple films, including '' Football Days'' (2003), for which he won the Goya Award for Best New Actor, '' The Longest Penalty Shot in ...

and Candela Peña. '' Torremolinos 73'' received four Goya nominations and won Berger the Golden Biznaga at the

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since ...

, as well as multiple national and international prizes. The movie became one of the box office successes of the year in Spain. In 2012, Berger premiered his second film '' Blancanieves'' (''Snow White''), which was the Spanish representative at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p ...

for Best Foreign Language Film. ''Blancanieves'' won ten

Goya Awards 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 ...

, including Best Film and

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 ...

. It also earned Berger the Special Jury Prize at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

. It was also nominated for the

César Award for Best Foreign Film The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, sponsored by France and Canada, presents an annual César Award for Best Foreign Film (). This is the list of winners and nominees of the award since the 1970s. Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s ...

, as well as two

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...

for Best Film and Best Director. In 2017, Berger premiered ''

'', a comedy starring again Maribel Verdú. This was his second film produced by Arcadia Motion Pictures. It became a critical success and received 8 nominations at the

32nd Goya Awards The 32nd Goya Awards were presented at the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel in Madrid on 3 February 2018, to honour the best in Spanish films of 2017. Joaquín Reyes (Spanish actor), Joaquín Reyes and Ernesto Sevilla hosted the awards ceremony. ...

. Pablo Berger is a Knight of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

of France. In 2018, Berger was invited to become a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

. In May 2023, Berger premiered '' Robot Dreams'', his first animated film, at the

2023 Cannes Film Festival The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 27 May 2023. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund served as jury president. With the French film ''Anatomy of a Fall'' winning the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, Justine Triet became ...

. The film was based on the graphic novel by American author Sara Varon, and was produced by Arcadia Motion Pictures. The film was sold internationally by Elle Driver and screened at the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

, where it won the Contrechamp Grand Prix. It won the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film and the Annie Award for Best Independent Animated Feature, as well as two

for Best Animated Film and Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2024, Berger was nominated for the

for ''Robot Dreams'', but lost to

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

's '' The Boy and the Heron''.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Pablo 1963 births 21st-century Spanish screenwriters Living people People from Bilbao Goya Award winners Spanish film directors