Víctor Manuel Gaviria González (born January 19, 1955, in Liborina, Antioquia,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

) is a Colombian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, writer, and poet. His four feature-length films are acclaimed and have won many international awards. He is the first Colombian filmmaker to be featured 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 ...

. He is often recognized as Colombia's most influential and well-known filmmaker.

Early life

He was born in the town of Liborina and raised in Medellin, Colombia, the sixth of 8 siblings. He grew up during the beginning of the

Colombian conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left gue ...

; an ongoing civil war between the Colombian government and extremist groups and drug cartels, which led to immense violence and unrest throughout Medellin. He attended the University of Antioquia and earned a degree in psychology. Gaviria took interest in poetry, writing seven poetry books that won several awards. He studied psychology at Antioquia University, but quit to pursue his film-making career. He joined several art collectives and met Catholic priest Luis Alberto Álvarez, who became a close friend and an important figure in his development.

Career

He is known for his raw style in portraying social issues and exclusion. His method has influenced Colombian and

Latin American cinema Latin American cinema refers collectively to the film output and film industry, film industries of Latin America. Latin American film is both rich and diverse, but the main centers of production have been Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Latin Americ ...

; presenting actors with no acting background, but who are natural storytellers and are actively involved in the development of the film.

Films

Awards

*'' Rodrigo D: No Future'', 1990 (official selection at the

1990 Cannes Film Festival The 43rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 May 1990 in film, 1990. The Palme d'Or went to ''Wild at Heart (film), Wild at Heart'' by David Lynch. The festival opened with ''Dreams (1990 film), Dreams'', directed by Akira Kurosawa and clo ...

) * ''

La vendedora de rosas ''La vendedora de rosas'' (The rose seller) is a 1998 Colombian film directed by Víctor Gaviria. The film is loosely based on the 1845 fairy tale "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen; it was entered into the 1998 Cannes Film Festi ...

'', 1998 (official selection at the

1998 Cannes Film Festival The 51st Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 1998. American director, producer, screenwriter, and film historian Martin Scorsese was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the Greek film '' Mia aioniotita kai mia mera'' by Theo A ...

) * '' Sumas y restas'', 2004 * ''

The Animal's Wife ''The Animal's Wife'' ( es, La mujer del animal) is a 2016 Colombian drama film directed by Víctor Gaviria. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto Int ...

'', 2016

Books

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people Colombian film directors People from Medellín {{Colombia-film-director-stub