The year is 2024 and the Latin American representation is still low. A report by Latino Donor Collective (LDC) on Latino representation in Hollywood highlighted that the Latino presence in the mainstream film industry is slowly dwindling. This comes as a huge shock as Latinos are the biggest minority group in the US. They contribute the most, as a minority, to the country’s GDP and are a major consumer of Hollywood as well. On the downside, most critics believe that this underrepresentation of Latinos can be detrimental to the total revenue of Hollywood.
Despite this diminishing representation, there are some names from the Latin American background, which are extremely popular. Jennifer Lopez, Zoe Saldana, Pedro Pascal, and America Ferrera are just some of the names who have made their mark in the industry. These names are a testament that there is no shortage of skills and capabilities in our Latino community.
Keeping this fact in mind, I decided to discuss some of the best directors and filmmakers in Hollywood who are proudly Latin American.
-
Guillermo del Toro
Easily one of the brightest names among Hollywood directors, Guillermo De Toro belongs to Mexico. As a competent director, writer, and producer, Toro has been experimenting with camera and filmmaking ever since he was eight. He made 10 short films before his first feature film. He dabbled in stop-motion films before his first project and studio were vandalized and he decided to switch to live-action films.
Toro’s exceptional skills have landed him three BAFTA awards and three Oscars. His characteristic style has been closely associated with horror, fantasy, grotesque, and slight hints of poetic beauty. Having studied special effects as well, his works are also rich in magical realism like Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth. His other amazing works include The Shape of Water, Cronos, and Mimic. His movies are also rich in historical, social, and emotionally rich commentaries that highlight the human condition through fantastical storylines.
-
Alfonso Cuarón
Hailing from a Mexican origin, Alfonso Cuarón is an all-rounder in the domain of filmmaking. He is a screenwriter, a director, a producer, a cinematographer, and an editor. His brother is also a filmmaker in Mexico. Alfonso Cuarón studied filmmaking after his philosophy degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he met a fellow filmmaker, Carlos Marcovich, and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. These three made a short film, Vengeance is Mine, which was Cuarón’s first film.
After working in Mexico’s entertainment industry, he released his first US-based feature film, A Little Princess, in 1995. His first globally successful film was a Spanish film, Y Tu Mamá También. He has also famously directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As an Academy, BAFTA, and Golden Globes awards winner, Alfonso Cuarón has a range of exceptional films that you can easily watch on Xfinity’s On Demand. The facility has films available both in English and Spanish as well. To subscribe, all you have to do is contact customer support for Comcast Xfinity en español.
-
Pablo Larraín
Larraín is from Chile and has a keen interest in making films about politics, history, and cultural memory. He comes from a political family which is why he has made numerous films revolving around political personalities and his country’s political history. He started his career as a cinematographer for Mexican Television Shows.
He is known to fuse his Latin American and Chilean heritage in his filmmaking. His movie El Conde exceptionally fuses history with fantasy and portrays the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a 250-year-old vampire. Larrain remarked once, “Chile is my world. How can I not be allowed to talk about the things that happened to us?” Lastly, he also made some amazing biopics like Spencer, Jackie, and Neruda that are critically acclaimed and loved globally.
-
Alice Waddington
Also known as Ali Waddington, she is a Spanish filmmaker and is only 33 years old. She got into the world of filmmaking when she was only sixteen as she got an assistant’s job as a director of photography. She has also directed fashion films and has also worked as a photographer for Harper’s Bazaar’s Spanish Editions.
She got into filmmaking with her first short film Disco Inferno, and never looked back. The popular theme in her works is social activism and female empowerment. Her first full-length feature film Paradise Hills garnered significant critical acclaim.
-
Sebastian Lelio
Originally belonging from Chile, Sebastian Lelio is an Academy Award-winning director. He studied journalism before shifting to the Chilean Film School to study filmmaking. He began his filmmaking career by making music videos and then shifted to making documentaries before finally making feature films.
His first feature film was a Spanish film, La Sagrada Familia. The movie was screened at multiple international film festivals and won numerous awards. His other notable films are Disobedience, A Fantastic Woman, Gloria, and The Year of the Tiger.
Wrapping Up
These are just some of the exceptional Latin directors and filmmakers who have been ruling the global entertainment industry. I also greatly admire the works of Patricia Cardoso, Pedro Almodovar, Lucrecia Martel, Christina Gallego, and Fernando Meirelles. All the Latin American directors mentioned in this list have their distinct style of story-telling, which they employ in amplifying their Latin American voices.
