Alfonso Cuarón

Birthday: 28 November 1961, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Birth Name: Alfonso Cuarón Orozco

Height: 183 cm

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then immediately started to film everything he saw, showing it afterwards to everyone. In his teen years, films were his hobby. Sometimes he said to his mother he would go to a friend's home, when in fact he would go to the cinema. His ambition was to know every theatre in the city. Near his house there were two studios, Studios Churubusco and Studios 212. After finishing school, Cuarón decided to study cinema right away. He tried to study at C.C.C. (Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica) but wasn't accepted because at that time they weren't accepting students under twenty-four years old. His mother didn't support that idea of cinema, so he studied philosophy in the morning and in the afternoon he went to the C.U.E.C. (Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos). During that time he met many people who would later become his collaborators and friends. One of them was Luis Estrada. Cuaron also became good friends with Carlos Marcovich and Emmanuel Lubezki. Luis Estrada directed a short called "Vengance is Mine", on which Alfonso and Emmanuel collaborated. The film was in English, a fact which bothered many teachers of the C.U.E.C. such as Marcela Fernández Violante. The disagreement caused such arguments that in 1985, Alfonso was expelled from the university.During his time studying at C.U.E.C. he met Mariana Elizondo, and with her he had his first son, Jonás Cuarón. After Alfonso was expelled, he thought he could never be a director and so went on to work in a Museum so he could sustain his family. One day, José Luis García Agraz and Fernando CáMara went to the museum and made an offer to Cuarón. They asked him to work as cable person in "La víspera (1982)", a job which was to prove to be his salvation. After that he was assistant director in Garcia Agraz's "Nocaut (1984)", as well as numerous other films.He was also second unit director in "Gaby: A True Story (1987)", and co-wrote and directed some episodes in the series "A Hora Marcada (1967)". One New Year's Eve, he decided he would not continue to be an assistant director, and with his brother Carlos started writing what would be his first feature film: "Sólo con tu pareja (1991)" (Love in the time of Hysteria). After the screenplay was written, the problem became how to get financial backing for the movie. I.M.C.I.N.E. (Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografia), which supports movies financially, had already decided which projects it would support that year, much to Alfonso's initial chagrin. However, the director of one of those already-chosen projects was unable to direct it, so his project was canceled, and "Sólo con tu pareja" took its place. Despite this being chosen, there was a lot of tension between Alfonso and the I.M.C.I.N.E. executives. Nevertheless, after the movie was finished, it was a huge success. In Toronto festival the films won many awards, and Alfonso started to be noticed by Hollywood producers. Sydney Pollack was the first one to invite him to shoot in Hollywood. He proposed a feature film to be directed by Alfonso, but the project didn't work and was canceled. Alfonso moved to Los Angeles without anything concrete, and stayed with some friends, as he had no money. Soon after that, Pollack called him again to direct an episode called "Fallen Angels: Murder, Obliquely (1993)" of the series "Fallen Angels (1993)", that was the first job he had in U.S., and also the first time he worked with Alan Rickman.After a while, and no real directing jobs, Alfonso wanted to direct something as he needed money. He finally signed a contract with Warner Brothers to direct the film Addicted to Love (1995). However, one night, he read the screenplay for another film, A Little Princess (1995) and fell in love with it. He talked to Warner Brothers and after some meetings he gave up directing "Addicted to Love" in order to do "A Little Princess". Even thought it wasn't a great box office success, the film received two nominations for the Oscars, and won many other awards. After "A Little Princess" Alfonso developed a project with Richard Gere starring. The project was canceled, but Cuarón got an offer from Twentieth Century Fox to direct the modern adaptation of the Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations (1998). He initially didn't want to direct it but the studio insisted, and in the end he accepted it. The experience was very painful and difficult for him mainly because there was never a definitive screenplay.He then reunited with producer Jorge Vergara and founded both Anhelo Productions and Moonson Productions. Anhelo's first picture was also Alfonso's next film, the erotic road movie "Y tu mamá también (2001)", which was a huge success. During the promotion of the film in Venice, Alfonso met the cinema critic Annalisa Bugliani. They started dating and married that same year. "Children of Men (2006)" was to be Alfonso's next film, a futuristic, dystopian story. During the preproduction of the film, Warner Brothers invited Alfonso to direct the third Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)", an offer which he accepted after some consideration. The film would prove to be the greatest box office success of his career.In 2003, he had a daughter named Tess Bu Cuarón, and in February 2005 another son, called Olmo Teodoro Cuarón. Alfonso Cuarón signed a three-year first-look deal with Warner Brothers, which allowed his films to be distributed world-wide. As a result of that deal, he developed two new projects, _History of Love, The (2007)_ and _Memory of Running, The (2007)_. He also developed another Mexican film "_México '68 (2007)_", about the violent students' revolt that happened in Mexico in 1968. He directed one five-minute segment of the anthology film Paris, je t'aime (2006) with Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier. His next project, the futuristic film Children of Men (2006) with Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 having been nominated for three Academy Awards. After his youngest son was diagnosed with autism and the divorce from Annalisa Bugliani he took a break from directing and settled in London where he plans to work on his next projects.In 2013, Alfonso directed the space thriller Gravity (2013), which would go win 7 academy awards. Hide

Most of cinema nowadays is about shooting a lot and then figuring it out in the cutting room, rather Show more Most of cinema nowadays is about shooting a lot and then figuring it out in the cutting room, rather than seeing your film it the head and see what's in your head and not shoot what you have already envisioned in your head. Hide

When people see some depth you never intended that's really cool, you just put on a face and say "Oh Show more When people see some depth you never intended that's really cool, you just put on a face and say "Oh, yeah, that was deep". What are you going to say? I'm just a moron with luck? Hide

They ask if I'm happy and elated by 'Gravity's success. For me, it's like the fox who has been chase Show more They ask if I'm happy and elated by 'Gravity's success. For me, it's like the fox who has been chased by hounds for four and a half years, and then the fox gets away. Is the fox happy? The fox is happy when he's frolicking with another fox, playing with the cubs in the meadow, mating, but when he escapes it's just relief. That's not happiness. Hide

I believe that human beings are born first and given passports later. I'm really thankful for my jou Show more I believe that human beings are born first and given passports later. I'm really thankful for my journey. And it's a journey I didn't design. Hide

When you work with kids, people tell you to be very delicate, but that's the last thing you should d Show more When you work with kids, people tell you to be very delicate, but that's the last thing you should do with kids. They feel patronized if you're like that. They just want you to be normal. Hide

[on directing 'Gravity'] There were times when it felt as though everything and everyone was conspir Show more [on directing 'Gravity'] There were times when it felt as though everything and everyone was conspiring against the process. But the thing about adversities is that they force you out of your comfort zone. The bad outcome is that you might drift into the void, but the other outcome is that you might gain amazing tools for growth and knowledge. Hide

[on 'Gravity'] The camera is a third astronaut, and that astronaut is the audience. The audience is Show more [on 'Gravity'] The camera is a third astronaut, and that astronaut is the audience. The audience is floating in space, following these characters who are bonded by the loss of physics in zero gravity, floating and rolling and spinning. The idea is to immerse the audience so that your emotional experience is projected onto the screen in a primal way. Hide

Tim [Webber] came to me with the idea 'let's do it mainly CG', and I went 'no way..that's going to s Show more Tim [Webber] came to me with the idea 'let's do it mainly CG', and I went 'no way..that's going to suck. We're going to do it as much practical as we can'. So we tried the conventional rigs and stuff. We tried cables and twisted arms and stuff, and I think it was three hours into the first day that it was so obvious that it wouldn't work.. And there's another thing. Wires give you this axis when you're rolling, and we needed several axises, so the wires weren't going to do it.. We wanted to give it a photo-real look from the first minute. I remember saying that when we finished the film I wanted NASA to call us and say they were suing us for putting cameras in their ships. Hide

The most important thing for us is that all of this stuff, and all of this technology, are only tool Show more The most important thing for us is that all of this stuff, and all of this technology, are only tools to achieve the cinematic experience and cinematic moment. For us, the conceptual aspect behind it and the theoretical aspect of what we were trying to convey was more important. All of the technology was in service of that. Hide

What's the point of being an Australian guy traveling through India if you are going to go to India Show more What's the point of being an Australian guy traveling through India if you are going to go to India to meet other Australians? Hide

The only reason you make a movie is not to make or set out to do a good or a bad movie, it's just to Show more The only reason you make a movie is not to make or set out to do a good or a bad movie, it's just to see what you learn for the next one. Hide

(Thoughts on the one film (or films) that made him want to become a filmmaker and why): There was no Show more (Thoughts on the one film (or films) that made him want to become a filmmaker and why): There was no epiphany from one film. There were a few that stood out over the years. I was 8 when I saw Ladri di biciclette (1948), and it was the first black-and-white film I had ever seen. It triggered my curiosity to start seeing European cinema. When I was 7, I saw The Making of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1970). Hearing George Roy Hill talk about all the choices he made, I knew that directing movies was what I wanted to do. I remember seeing Death and Venice 40 times one year, and then switching my allegiance to Godard after seeing Masculine/Feminine! I knew early on that I was a nerd and that films were my refuge. Those first few minutes before the lights went off, and you're alone in the theater waiting, were really pleasurable. Whether it was Steve McQueen, the coolest guy in cinema, to Robert Altman's strange and wonderful 3 Women (1977), I saw hundreds of films before I ever picked up a camera. I believe I took something away from each one. Hide

If I would rescue one of my movies, it would be A Little Princess. If I would rescue one of my movies, it would be A Little Princess.

[on the physicality of Sandra Bullock's performance] It was more like a dancer really with choreogra Show more [on the physicality of Sandra Bullock's performance] It was more like a dancer really with choreography, because it just wasn't marks, it was about timing. So it was very complex and I'm amazed at what she did. Hide

There are fewer established rules in the way you tell a story for commercials than in features,it's Show more There are fewer established rules in the way you tell a story for commercials than in features,it's a great little short story you get to play with. Hide

Alfonso Cuarón's FILMOGRAPHY

All as Actor (18) as Director (6) as Creator (4)

Gravity

Y Tu Mamá También

Children of Men

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

And Your Mother Too (Y tu Mama Tambien)

A Little Princess