Nicolás Echevarría

Nicolás Echevarría (born August 8, 1947 in Tepic , Nayarit , Mexico ) is a Mexican film director .

life and work

After studying painting and architecture in Guadalajara , he began studying music in Mexico City in 1969 . He began making films in the 1970s after the Tlatelolco massacre . He became known in Mexico with his documentaries . His feature film debut Cabeza de Vaca (1990) about the conquistador of the same name Cabeza de Vaca caused a sensation and made him known worldwide. With this work Echevarría set new standards for the colonial history of Mexico depicted in the film. His cinematic work is characterized by the coherent editing and assembly rhythm. In his documentaries, he often completely dispenses with a comment and lets the images speak for themselves.

From 1983 he shot the five-part television series American Patchwork Project in the USA together with Alan Lomax . In 2001 he made his second feature film Vivir mata , based on a script by Juan Villoro . In the absence of financial support, he now works mainly for Mexican television.

Filmography (selection)

• 1978: María Sabina: mujer espíritu
• 1980: Poetas campesinos
• 1981: Niño Fidencio, el taumaturgo de Espinoza
• 1990: Cabeza de Vaca
• 2001: Vivir mata
• 2014: Eco de la Montaña - shown on February 7, 2015 at the Berlinale

Web links

• Nicolás Echevarría in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Nicolás Echevarría: Myth as a Form of Creativity
• The Mexican cinema of the 90s