Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (; born 17 February 1974) is a Spanish film and advertising director and producer. He made his feature-film debut with, '' The Platform'' (2019), a dystopian science fiction-horror film.

Early life and education

Gaztelu-Urrutia was born on 17 February 1974 in Bilbao. He completed a B.A. in business management with a specialization in international trade.

Career

He made a short film, ''913'' in 2003. He has directed commercials. In 2011, he made ''The House on the Lake''. His feature film debut was in 2019 with the dystopian science fiction-horror film '' The Platform'' (its Spanish title is ''El hoyo'', transl. ''The Hole''). About the film, he said the point is "it isn’t about a war between those above and those below — we all have someone above us and someone below us". In February 2023,

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a Britis ...

announced his next film will be a thriller entitled "Rich Flu", starring

Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mary Elizabeth Winstead (born November 28, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Her first significant role was that of Jessica Bennett (Passions), Jessica Bennett on the NBC soap opera ''Passions'' (1999–2000). She went on to appear in se ...

and

Jonah Hauer-King Jonah Andre Hauer-King (born 30 May 1995) is an English actor. He has starred in the films ''The Last Photograph'' (2017) and ''A Dog's Way Home'' (2019), and appeared in the television miniseries ''Howards End'' (2017), ''Little Women'' (2017) ...

Influences and style

Gaztelu-Urrutia has named Dante's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

'' as one of his literary influences for ''The Platform'', as well as films such as Buñuel's ''

The Exterminating Angel ''The Exterminating Angel'' ( es, El ángel exterminador, links=no) is a 1962 Mexican surrealist film written and directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Silvia Pinal, and produced by Pinal's then-husband Gustavo Alatriste. It tells the story of a g ...

'' (1962), Jeunet's ''

Delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

'' (1991), Ridley Scott's ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

'' (1982) and Scorsese's ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and ...

'' (1976).

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Awards

'' The Platform'' won the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness at the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

,Jessica Wong
"TIFF 2019: Jojo Rabbit captures TIFF People's Choice Award"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, 15 September 2019. and garnered four honours at the

Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

: Best Film, Best New Director, Best Special Effects and the Audience Award.

References

1974 births Living people Spanish film directors Spanish film producers People from Bilbao Film directors from the Basque Country (autonomous community) {{Spain-film-director-stub