Influential Latin Filmmakers To Know
Updated September 17th, 2026.
A List of Latin Filmmakers who are Helping Hollywood Share More Interesting and Diverse Stories
This is a short list of notable Latin filmmakers currently in the industry. As the Hispanic filmmaking community continues to grow, our hope is to keep adding to this list of notable Latin filmmakers. By no means is this an exhaustive attempt at showcasing all of the talented filmmakers that represent the Latin community in entertainment. We want to recognize those filmmakers who are paving the way for others to feel confident in their own abilities to make movies about their life’s story and reshape the cinematic experience.
Alfonso Cuarón
Born in Mexico City, Alfonso Cuarón is a film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor. He started out his film career as a cinematographer on television shows in Mexico. Throughout Alfonso Cuarón’s filmmaking career, he has been nominated for an Academy Award in six different categories and has personally won five Oscars. In 2018, Cuarón’s film Roma splashed onto the streaming scene with its Netflix debut. Cuarón shot the film in black-and-white, large-format digital and used subtitles to immerse American audiences into 1970s Mexico City. Cuarón won three Oscars for Roma including Best Director and Best Cinematographer.
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu is another influential Mexican-born filmmaker, who is best known for directing Babel (2006) Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015). Iñárritu got his start in radio broadcast in Mexico and transitioned into a producer for Televisa, a major Latin American mass media corporation. He later founded a production company called Z films before directing his debut Mexican film, Amores Perros (2000). Iñárritu is one of only three directors to ever win an Oscar for Best Director back-to-back. After taking a brief hiatus since The Revenant, Iñárritu is in production for a new film called Limbo, which he wrote the screenplay.
Ali Waddington
Spanish filmmaker Ali Waddington made her feature directorial debut in 2019 with her film Paradise Hills starring Emma Roberts. Waddington visited The L.A. Film School to screen her film and speak with students about her experience making Paradise Hills as a first-time director. Her journey into filmmaking began with advertising and photography at the University of the Basque Country. In 2014, Waddington took a year off from working at an ad agency to write and direct a short, 11-minute movie called Disc Inferno (2015). That kickstarted her desire to continue making films specifically in the sci-fi fantasy genre focused on themes of female empowerment and social activism. As a queer woman, Waddington is a proactive advocate for progressive social change within the arts and minority groups.
Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican filmmaker who is most known for his independent dark-comedy film Chuck & Buck (2000). Arteta went to high school in Costa Rica and moved to the United States to attend college at Harvard and eventually graduated from Wesleyan University. He started working as a second assistant camera and from there started directing his own independent films. Arteta has immersed himself in the American filmmaking scene by directing movies including Yes Day starring Jennifer Garner and Like a Boss with Tiffany Haddish. He has also directed episodes of popular TV shows including American Horror Story, Nurse Jackie and New Girl. Over the years, Arteta has been nominated for 19 independent awards and film festivals.
Fernando Meirelles
It’s hard not to mention influential Latin filmmakers without talking about Fernando Meirelles. This Brazillian filmmaker made a name for himself after turning the best-selling book Cidade de Deus (City of God) into a movie. It was a huge undertaking for Meirelles as the storyline involved more than 350 characters and he assembled a cast of inexperienced actors for the film. Meirelles worked with fellow Brazillian filmmakers Bráulio Mantovani, who wrote the screenplay for City of God, and Kátia Lund, who co-directed the film with Meirelles. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). Meirelles also directed The Constant Gardener (2005) and The Two Popes (2019), which was a Netflix original.
Cristina Gallego
Christina Gallego is a Colombian producer and director, known for Birds of Passage (2018), Embrace of the Serpent (2015) and Sister of Mine (2017). Gallego spent 10 years researching her latest film Birds of Passage. The film follows the Wayuu family as they fall into the drug trade in Colombia during the 1970s. Birds of Passage has received critical acclaim and was selected as the Colombian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
Your Story Deserves the Screen
From Alfonso Cuarón shooting 1970s Mexico City in intimate black-and-white to Cristina Gallego spending a decade researching a single film, these filmmakers share a refusal to tell anyone’s story but their own, and in doing so, they’ve reshaped what cinema can be. Many started exactly where you might be now: with a short film, a borrowed camera, and a perspective no one else could offer.
At The L.A. Film School, in the heart of Hollywood, we’re here to help the next generation of storytellers find their voice and their craft. Learn filmmaking from script to screen in our Film program, or earn your Digital Filmmaking degree online from anywhere in the world. Request Info to explore our programs, or Apply Now and start telling the stories only you can tell.
FAQs: Influential Latin Filmmakers To Know
Who is Alfonso Cuarón?
Born in Mexico City, Alfonso Cuarón is a film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor who began his career shooting television in Mexico. He has been nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories and personally won five Oscars. His 2018 film Roma, shot in black-and-white, large-format digital and debuting on Netflix, immersed audiences in 1970s Mexico City and earned him three Oscars, including Best Director and Best Cinematography.
What is Alejandro González Iñárritu known for?
Iñárritu is an influential Mexican-born filmmaker best known for directing Babel (2006), Birdman (2014), and The Revenant (2015). He got his start in radio broadcasting in Mexico before becoming a producer for the media corporation Televisa, then founded the production company Z Films and directed his debut feature, Amores Perros (2000). He’s one of only three directors ever to win the Best Director Oscar in back-to-back years.
Who is Ali Waddington, and what’s her connection to The L.A. Film School?
Ali (Alice) Waddington is a Spanish filmmaker who made her feature directorial debut in 2019 with Paradise Hills, starring Emma Roberts. She actually visited The L.A. Film School to screen the film and speak with students about directing as a first-timer. Her path began in advertising and photography, and after a short film called Disc Inferno (2015), she pursued sci-fi fantasy work centered on female empowerment and social activism. As a queer woman, she’s an active advocate for progressive change in the arts.
What kind of films does Miguel Arteta make?
Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican filmmaker best known for his independent dark comedy Chuck & Buck (2000). He attended high school in Costa Rica, studied at Harvard, and graduated from Wesleyan University, working his way up from second assistant camera to directing his own independent films. His work spans features like Yes Day and Like a Boss, plus episodes of TV shows including American Horror Story, Nurse Jackie, and New Girl, and he’s earned 19 independent award and festival nominations.
Why is Fernando Meirelles considered so influential?
Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles made his name adapting the best-selling book Cidade de Deus (City of God) into a film, an enormous undertaking involving more than 350 characters and a cast of largely inexperienced actors. He collaborated with fellow Brazilians Bráulio Mantovani (screenwriter) and Kátia Lund (co-director). City of God earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Director, and Meirelles went on to direct The Constant Gardener (2005) and the Netflix original The Two Popes (2019).
Who is Cristina Gallego?
Cristina Gallego is a Colombian producer and director known for Birds of Passage (2018), Embrace of the Serpent (2015), and Sister of Mine (2017). She spent ten years researching Birds of Passage, which follows the Wayuu family as they become entangled in Colombia’s drug trade during the 1970s. The film received critical acclaim and was selected as Colombia’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
Why does representation among filmmakers matter?
Because filmmakers who tell authentic stories from their own communities help Hollywood share richer, more diverse perspectives, and they pave the way for others. Seeing filmmakers from the Latin community succeed at the highest levels can give aspiring storytellers the confidence to make films about their own lives and experiences. As the Latin filmmaking community continues to grow, each of these artists helps reshape the cinematic experience and expand who gets to tell stories on screen.
