Quick Facts
Biography
Lucrecia Martel (born December 14, 1966) is an Argentine film director, screenwriter, and producer.
According to film critic Joel Poblete, who writes for Mabuse, a cinema magazine, Lucrecia Martel is one of the members of the so-called "New Argentine Cinema" which began c. 1998.
Biography
Martel studied at Avellaneda Experimental (AVEX) and then attended the National Experimentation Filmmaking School (ENERC) in Buenos Aires. Because the film school she attended closed for lack of funds, she maintains she was self-taught. Martel said, "I watched movies, I read books, I wrote. I was a free mind, because I had to be."
Martel directed a number of short films between 1988 and 1994. The award winning short film Rey Muerto (Dead King) (1995) was part of Historias Breves I (Brief Tales I).
Her debut feature film La Ciénaga received several international awards, and was voted the greatest Latin American film of the decade in a poll of New York area film critics, programmers and industry professionals. The Holy Girl was selected for competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and ranked ninth in the same poll, while The Headless Woman was selected for competition at Cannes in 2008 and ranked eighth. Additionally, James Quandt of Artforum declared The Headless Woman as "one of the great films of the decade."
Martel was a member of the Cannes Film Festival Feature Films Jury in 2006.
Martel is currently developing an adaptation of Antonio di Benedetto's novel Zama starring Daniel Giménez Cacho.
Filmography
- El 56 (1988) (short)
- Piso 24 (1989) (short)
- Besos rojos (1991) (short)
- Rey muerto (1995) (short)
- La Ciénaga (2002) a.k.a. The Swamp
- The Holy Girl (2004)
- La mujer sin cabeza (2008), a.k.a. The Headless Woman
- Zama (2017)
Television
- D.N.I. (1995), TV Series
Awards
Wins
- Havana Film Festival: Coral Best Short Film; for Rey muerto; 1995.
- Sundance Film Festival: NHK Award; for La Ciénaga, (Latin America); 1999.
- Uruguay International Film Festival: First Work Award – Special Mention; for La Ciénaga; 2001.
- Toulouse Latin America Film Festival: French Critics' Discovery Award; Grand Prix; for La Ciénaga; 2001.
- Havana Film Festival: Best Director; Grand Coral – First Prize; for La Ciénaga; 2001.
- Berlin International Film Festival: Alfred Bauer Prize; for La Ciénaga; 2001.
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best First Film; for : La Ciénaga; 2002.
- Clarin Entertainment Awards: Clarin Award Film Best Director; for La Niña santa; 2004.
- São Paulo International Film Festival: Critics Award – Honorable Mention; for La Niña santa; 2004.
Nominations
- Berlin International Film Festival: Golden Berlin Bear; for La Ciénaga; 2001.
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Director, Best Original Screenplay; for La Ciénaga; 2002.
- Cannes Film Festival: Golden Palm; for La Niña santa; 2004.