Lisandro Alonso

I am Lisandro Alonso, born on June 2, 1975, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I studied for three years at the Universidad del Cine, where I honed my craft before stepping into the film industry. My career began in 1995 when I co-directed my first short film, Dos En La Vereda, and worked as an assistant director and sound designer until 2000. In 2001, I made my feature directorial debut with La Libertad, a film about a solitary lumberjack’s relationship with his environment, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. This marked the start of my journey as a filmmaker loosely tied to the New Argentine Cinema movement.

I founded my own production company, 4L, and continued to explore themes of loneliness and isolation through minimalist storytelling. My next film, Los Muertos (2004), premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, followed by Fantasma (2006), completing a loose trilogy. In 2008, I leaned toward a more narrative approach with Liverpool, which screened at Cannes and followed a sailor searching for his mother in Tierra del Fuego. My 2014 film, Jauja, starring Viggo Mortensen, won the FIPRESCI Prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and marked a shift toward a broader cinematic scope, blending historical and existential elements. In 2023, I released Eureka, also featuring Mortensen, which premiered in the Cannes Premiere section.

My films often blend documentary and narrative styles, focusing on solitary characters wandering through stark landscapes, reflecting on human identity and emotional isolation. I’ve directed six feature films and two shorts, all of which have been showcased at prestigious festivals like Cannes, Toronto, and Gijón, where I won an award in 2008. In 2014, I was named the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Filmmaker in Residence, a recognition of my contribution to independent cinema. My work continues to evolve, often challenging conventional storytelling while staying true to my vision of cinema as an intimate, contemplative art form.