Alejandro González Iñárritu biography

Synopsis

Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu was born August 15, 1963 in Mexico City. During the 1990s, he was a producer for the Mexican TV company Televisa and a founder of Zeta Films. His 1999 feature film debut, Amores Perros, won an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. After completing two short films, he directed 21 Grams. His next film, Babel, received seven Oscar nominations.

Profile

Born August 15, 1963 in Mexico City. Iñárritu began his career as a DJ, eventually composing soundtracks for Mexican films and making TV commercials. His interest in filmmaking soon eclipsed his music career, and he went to the United States to study directing.

During the 1990s, Iñárritu was a producer for the Mexican TV company Televisa and a founder of Zeta Films. His 1999 feature film debut, Amores Perros, a gritty exploration of Mexico City's underbelly, won an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The film was also a breakthrough for its lead actor, Gael García Bernal, with whom Iñárritu would collaborate again.

After completing two notable short films, BMW's Powder Keg and a piece about the September 11 attacks, Iñárritu tackled his first English-language feature, 21 Grams. The critically acclaimed film starred Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts, both of whom received Oscar nods for their performances. Iñárritu won the Best Director Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival for his next film, Babel, a multinarrative drama starring Adriana Barraza, Bernal, Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Rinko Kikuchi. Babel received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Director.