Archibaldo Burns Luján (7 April 1914 - 24 January 2011) was a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

writer and film director. He was born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

in 1914. His original name was Archibaldo Luján Zuloaga Moreno; the assumed surname Burns came from a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

ancestor.

Career as film director

He was sent to Europe at the age of 12, studying in England and then France. Upon his return to Mexico, he administered the cotton ranches of his family in Torreón, Coahuila. At the same time, he became interested in cinema. His first collaboration was with Alejandro Galindo in ''Refugiados en Madrid'' (1938). He also worked with

Chano Urueta Santiago Eduardo Urueta Sierra (24 February 1904 – 23 March 1979), more commonly known as Chano Urueta, was a Mexican film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Filmography Director *1928: '' El Destino'' *1933: '' Profanación'' *1934 ...

in ''La noche de los mayas'' (1939). His first solo effort as director was the short film ''Perfecto luna'' (1959), based on a story by

Elena Garro Elena Garro (December 11, 1916 – August 22, 1998) was a Mexican screenwriter, journalist, dramaturg, short story writer, and novelist. She has been described as the initiator of the Magical Realism movement, though she rejected this affiliation. ...

. This movie was entered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

but had the misfortune of being shown in a defective copy. It was lost in a fire at the former Cineteca Nacional in Mexico City. Burns made his feature film debut with ''Juego de mentiras'' (1967); it was later released commercially under the title ''La venganza de la criada''. Other films such as ''Juan Pérez Jolote'' (1973), adapted from a novel by Ricardo Pozas, and the short film ''Un agujero en la niebla'' (1967) won awards at international film festivals. He also adapted and directed ''Oficio de tinieblas'' (1979), based on a novel by

Rosario Castellanos Rosario Castellanos Figueroa (; 25 May 1925 – 7 August 1974) was a Mexican poet and author. She was one of Mexico's most important literary voices in the last century. Throughout her life, she wrote eloquently about issues of cultural and gend ...

. Some of his films suffered the censure of censors, such as ''El reventón'' (1975).

As a writer

As a writer, Burns has published novels (''En presencia de nadie'', 1964 and ''Botafumeiro'', 1994) and short stories (''Los presentes'', 1954 and ''El Cuerpo y el delito'', 1966). He was a student of

Seki Sano Seki Sano (Japanese: 佐野碩) (January 14, 1905, Tientsin – September 29, 1966, Mexico City) was a Japanese actor, stage director and choreographer. He contributed to the development of the theatre in Japan and later in Mexico, where he was kn ...

, the Japanese director who taught in Mexico for many years. As a theatre director, he staged ''La paloma de Amuy'' by

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ''Antigone'', an ad ...

in 1953.Obit
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Archibaldo Mexican film directors Mexican male writers 1914 births 2011 deaths