From dark fairytale auteurs to moody biopic masters, some of Hollywood’s most exciting people calling the shots on set hail from Latin America and Spain, or are descended from Latin American or Spanish parents or grandparents.
Hispanic Heritage Month offers us a chance every year – from the middle of September through the middle of October – to honor the Latino and Hispanic creatives that have given us some of the best and some of the boldest TV and movies in history. Beyond making wonderful art for all audiences to enjoy, these directors are making waves and paving the way for Hispanic and Latino talent behind and in front of the camera, in an industry in which Hispanics and Latinos are disproportionately represented and still have a difficult time getting their foot in the door.
Here’s every Latino/a/x and Hispanic director you should have on your radar, along with their most highly-praised movies and shows (and where to stream or rent them):
Janicza Bravo
Born in: New York, New York
Best known for: Zola, In Treatment, Poker Face
Janicza Bravo made the risky choice of directing and co-writing a film based on a viral 148-tweet thread about sex work, and it paid off: Zola was nominated for the Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Bravo is also an in-demand TV director, helming episodes of acclaimed shows like Atlanta and Poker Face.
Alfonso Cuarón
Born in: Mexico City, Mexico
Best known for: Roma, Gravity, Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, A Little Princess
Alfonso Cuarón is the first Mexican filmmaker to win the Oscar for Best Director (Roma), and is the second person ever to have been nominated for an Academy Award in seven different categories. He is also credited as the director of the best Harry Potter film in the entire eight-movie franchise.
Nia DaCosta
Born in: Brooklyn, New York
Best known for: Little Woods, Candyman
Nia DaCosta is the youngest filmmaker ever to direct a Marvel film – The Marvels, featuring Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris, comes out on Nov. 10, 2023. DaCosta is also currently producing a film based on the Norwegian play Hedda Gabler with Tessa Thompson and Eve Hewson attached to star.
Guillermo del Toro
Born in: Guadalajara, Mexico
Best known for: Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Pacific Rim, Hellboy, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Considered to be one of our modern masters of dark fairytales, Guillermo del Toro stunned last year with his unique twist on Pinocchio, a stop-motion musical set in fascist Italy that scored him the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Del Toro has future plans for more animated and live-action films: he will be producing Frankenstein for Netflix with Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield and Mia Goth in talks to star, and a stop-motion adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Buried Giant, also for Netflix.
Zetna Fuentes
Born in: The Bronx, New York
Best known for: Bosch, This is Us, Jane the Virgin, One Life to Live
Zetna Fuentes was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards for her directing work on One Life to Life, and received a nod at the Imgen Awards in 2022 for an episode of This Is Us she directed. She will be making her feature film debut shortly, as she is set to direct a book-to-screen adaptation of Lilliam Rivera’s novel Never Look Back as well as a film based on the life of poet, lawyer and activist Reginald Dwayne Betts.
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Born in: Mexico City, Mexico
Best known for: The Revenant, Birdman, Biutiful, Amores Perros
Alejandro González Iñárritu is a man of many firsts in Hollywood. He’s the first Mexican filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and for Best Picture, the first to receive the Best Director Award at Cannes, and the first to win a DGA Award for Outstanding Directing. He, Cuarón, and del Toro are known in the film industry as “The Three Amigos,” given that all three hail from Mexico, are close friends in real life, and have advised each other on numerous projects.
Reinaldo Marcus Green
Born in: The Bronx, New York
Best known for: We Own This City, King Richard, Top Boy
After making headlines and receiving numerous accolades for King Richard, starring Will Smith in the titular role, Green was tapped to direct an untitled dramedy for Lionsgate and is currently directing the upcoming Bob Marley biopic (Bob Marley: One Love) starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley, Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley and Jesse Cilio as Norval Marley. Bob Marley: One Love is slated for theatrical release in January.
Gigi Saul Guerrero
Born in: Mexico City, Mexico
Best known for: Satanic Hispanics, Choose Your Victim
Gigi Saul Guerrero, nicknamed “La Muñeca del Terror” in Latin America (which translates to “The Doll of Terror”) has devoted nearly her entire promising directorial and production career to spotlighting spooky stories. She rose to prominence in both LatAm and in the United States for her creepy web series La Quinceañera in 2017, founded a production banner devoted to the horror genre (Luchagore Productions), and has been named one of the top emerging directors in horror by a bevy of publications, including Empire and Bloody Disgusting.
Jorge R. Gutiérrez
Born in: Mexico City, Mexico
Best known for: Maya and the Three, The Book of Life, We the People
Jorge R. Gutiérrez’s lavish, hyper-detailed and proudly Mexican-folklore-inspired artistry has made his work in the animation industry distinguishable and has won him various accolades. He co-wrote and directed the Annie Award-winning The Book of Life starring Diego Luna, Channing Tatum and Zoe Saldaña, which was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film that year. He also wrote and directed the Annie and Emmy Award-winning animated series Maya and the Three.
Pablo Larraín
Born in: Santiago, Chile
Best known for: No, Neruda, Jackie, Spencer
Pablo Larraín, who has become a master of moody, stylish biopics in both English and in Spanish, has directed multiple nominated performances: in 2016, Natalie Portman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie, and in 2021, Kristen Stewart was nominated for the same award for her portrayal of Diana, Princess of Wales in Spencer. His latest film, El Conde, a dark comedy/horror fantasy in which notorious Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is portrayed as a 250-year-old vampire, just hit Netflix. Up next is yet another biographical film, this time about the final days of renowned opera singer Maria Callas, titled Maria, starring Angelina Jolie.
Eva Longoria
Born in: Corpus Christi, Texas
Best known for: Flamin’ Hot, Gordita Chronicles, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia
One can’t help but think of Desperate Housewives when they hear the name Eva Longoria, given that it was the soapy role that made her a bonafide Hollywood star and scored her Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations throughout the show’s eight year run. Even though she’s still acting, Longoria has enjoyed a fruitful career upgrade to the director’s chair, having helmed numerous episodes of various sitcoms and dramas since 2014. Her feature directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot, was released in June 2023.
Melina Matsoukas
Born in: The Bronx, New York
Best known for: Queen & Slim, Insecure, Master of None
Melina Matsoukas’ bread and butter is music videos – she’s directed them for Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Solange, and Ludacris – but she has made it big straight out the gate with a career expansion into feature films (Queen & Slim) and directing episodes of TV (Insecure, Master of None, and most recently The Changeling). In addition to her success directing music videos, movies, and series, she also has been recognized for her commercials. In 2020 she directed the ad Beats by Dre: You Love Me, and won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials.
Kimberly McCullough
Born in: Bellflower, California
Best known for: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
Although Kimberly McCullough is most recognized for her soap opera acting days on General Hospital as series regular Robin Scorpio, she has spent the past decade directing episodes for shows like Pretty Little Liars, The Bold Type, and One Day at a Time. Her most extensive directing gig was a whopping 14 episodes of Disney+’s beloved and meta-referential High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Andrés Muschietti
Born in: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Best known for: It, It Chapter Two, The Flash
Andrés Muschietti is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after blockbuster directors, and has numerous projects on the pipeline, including a live-action adaptation of the anime phenom Attack on Titan for Warner Bros., a remake of The Howling for Netflix, and a Batman reboot film set in the James Gunn/Peter Safran co-headed DC Universe.
Hernán Michael Otaño
Born in: New York, New York
Best known for: Power, Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Although he’s known best as a cinematographer — specifically for 22 episodes of Power — Hernán Michael Otaño has been lending his directorial eye as well to the Power franchise, directing ten episodes across the crime drama’s universe. In addition to Power, Otaño has directed episodes of police procedurals like The Equalizer, FBI: International, and The Rookie: Feds.
