Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (born November 28, 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker, writer, producer, and editor. He often uses long takes and moving cameras to emulate a documentary film style. He is good friends with fellow Mexican filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, known as “The Three Amigos” in the industry, confounding the production company Cha Cha Cha Films.
He made his feature debut with Sólo con tu pareja (1991), with Daniel Giménez Cacho and Claudia Ramírez. He made his English language debut on A Little Princess (1995), with Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Liesel Matthews, Vanessa Lee Chester, Rusty Schwimmer, Arthur Malet and Errol Sitahal; followed by a modern version of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations (1998), with Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft, and Chris Cooper.
He received his first Academy Award nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category for Y tu mamá también (2001), with Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, and Diego Luna. He then directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Richard Griffiths, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, and Julie Walters.
He received 2 more Academy Award nominations for Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay for Children of Men (2006), with Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris, Charlie Hunnam, and Michael Caine. He won 2 for Best Editing and Best Director for Gravity (2013), with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney; and 2 more for Cinematography and Best Director for Roma (2018), with Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, and Jorge Antonio Guerrero; which also won Best International Film. He is the first Mexican filmmaker to win the Academy for Best Director, and the second person to have been nominated for an Academy Award in seven different categories after Kenneth Branagh.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Sólo con tu pareja (1991) – also co-writer, producer, co-editor
- A Little Princess (1995) – director
- Great Explanations (1998) – director
- Y tu mamá también (2001) – also co-writer, producer, co-editor
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)* – director
- Children of Men (2006)* – also co-writer, co-editor
- Gravity (2013) – also co-writer, producer, co-editor
- Roma (2018) – also writer, producer, co-editor, cinematographer
Producer/Executive Producer
- Crónicas (2004) – directed by Sebastián Cordero – co-producer
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004) – directed by Niels Mueller
- Black Sun (2005) – directed by Gary Tarn – documentary
- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)* – directed by Guillermo del Toro
- Year of the Nail (2007) – directed by Jonás Cuarón
- Rudo y Cursi (2008) – directed by Carlos Cuarón
- Desierto (2015) – directed by Jonás Cuarón
- This Changes Everything (2015) – directed by Avi Lewis – documentary
- The Disciple (2020) – directed by Chaitanya Tamhane
- The Witches (2020) – directed by Robert Zemeckis
- Raymond & Ray (2022) – directed by Rodrigo García
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