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Sebastián Hofmann (born 1981) is a Mexican visual artist and filmmaker whose productions have been presented in the film festivals of Cannes, Rotterdam, Locarno, Sundance, San Sebastian, among others. He is also the co-founder of the prestigious production and distribution company
Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
. His work as a visual artist has been presented in galleries and museums in New York, Sidney, Rio de Janeiro, Athens, Berlin, Santiago, Pasadena, Mexico City and Prague.


Career

Sebastián Hofmann has a B.F.A. with honors from the
Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...
in Pasadena, California. In 2010 he shot his first short film, ''Jaime Tapones'', the main topic of which inspired his first feature film, ''Halley''. In 2011, Hofmann and Julio Chavezmontes founded
Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
in Mexico City as a creative studio for developing original and challenging artistic projects. With Piano, they wrote and produced Halley which was selected in more than 50 international film festivals after its premiere at the New Frontier Section of 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 ...
in 2013, where the Sundance / AMC Channel acquired it for release. "Halley" was well received and won several awards, including the Sitges New Visions Award, the Cinevision Award (Best Film By An Emerging Director) at the
Munich Film Festival Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, the AQCC Award and the Special Jury Mention at Fantasia Film Festival and Best Film Award at the East End Film Festival. In Mexico, the film had five nominations at the
Ariel Awards The Ariel Award () is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award recognizes artistical and technical excellence in the Mexic ...
, such as Best First Work for Hofmann, winning the prize for Best Make Up. His second feature-length movie is Time Share (Tiempo Compartido) (2018), which Hofmann co-wrote with Julio Chavezmontes. The cast includes
Luis Gerardo Méndez Luis Gerardo Hernández Méndez (born 12 March 1982) is a Mexican actor and producer born in Aguascalientes City. Having previously mostly appeared in smaller films and on television, Méndez shot to fame with his starring role in the 2013 comed ...
, Miguel Rodarte, Cassandra Ciangherottti and R.J. Mitte, of the popular TV
Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...
. ''Time Share'' had its world debut at the
2018 Sundance Film Festival The 2018 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 18 to January 28, 2018. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 29, 2017. Awards The following awards were presented: * U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award: '' T ...
, where it was awarded with the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting. Unlike Halley, the film received mixed reviews due its slow pacing and lack of storytelling. ''Time Share'' was distributed in Mexico in summer 2018. It has been distributed internationally through the
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
streaming digital platform. Besides his work as a director and co-producer, Sebastián Hofmann has also worked as a cinematographer in documentaries such as Nicolas Echevarría’s Echo of the Mountain, screened at the
Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
and winner at the
Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
2014, The Gaze of the Sea and Canícula. In this last one he also worked as co-writer and editor. Canícula won the
FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...
Award for Best Film at the
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF; ) is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since ...
and was later acquired by
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...
. Hofmann is also the creator and star of Los Micro Burgueses, an independent absurd comedy web series of social critic, presented at the
IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...
in 2012.


Filmography

* Halley (2013) * Time Share (Tiempo Compartido) (2018) * Time Share (Plugs) (2011)


References


External links

*
Sebastián Hofmann

Estudio PIANO

HALLEY
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Sebastian 1980 births Mexican film directors Artists from Mexico City Living people