Alfonso Cuaron

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28, 1961, in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he developed an interest in filmmaking. He studied film at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (C.U.E.C.) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he formed friendships and collaborations with individuals who would become key figures in his career, such as Luis Estrada, Carlos Marcovich, and Emmanuel Lubezki. He was expelled from the university due to creative differences over a short film. After working in a museum, opportunities arose in film production, where he started as a cable person and later an assistant director for films like “La víspera” (1982) and “Nocaut” (1984).

Cuarón’s filmmaking career progressed significantly after he co-wrote and directed episodes for the series “A Hora Marcada” (1967) and his first feature film, “Sólo con tu pareja” (originally titled “Love in the Time of Hysteria,” 1991). This film’s success at the Toronto festival brought him to the attention of Hollywood producers, notably Sydney Pollack, leading to his first U.S. directing job on an episode of the series “Fallen Angels” (1993). He later directed “A Little Princess” (1995), which, despite modest box office returns, earned two Academy Award nominations. He then directed “Great Expectations” (1998) before returning to Mexico to create the highly successful and critically acclaimed “Y tu mamá también” (2001), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay with his brother Carlos.

His career reached new heights with “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004), a significant commercial success, followed by the critically lauded dystopian film “Children of Men” (2006), earning him two Academy Award nominations. In 2013, he directed “Gravity,” a space thriller that won seven Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Film Editing for Cuarón. He then directed “Roma” (2018), a semi-autobiographical drama that earned him Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best International Feature Film, making him the only filmmaker to win Best Director twice with a clean sweep of major awards (Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, DGA Awards) for both “Gravity” and “Roma.” He also founded Esperanto Filmoj and co-founded Tequila Gang production companies.