Iñárritu, Alejandro González, << ih NYAR ee too, ah leh HAHN droh gon SAH lehs >> (1963-…), is a Mexican motion-picture director, screenwriter, producer, and composer. He won the Academy Award for best director for the comedy-drama Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). The film tells the story of a washed-up superhero actor trying to reinvent himself by directing and starring in a Broadway play. The film won the award for best picture of the year. Iñárritu also shared the Academy Award for best original screenplay for the film. He won the Academy Award for best director a second time for The Revenant (2015). The film tells the story of a frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820′s who fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting party.
Iñárritu was born on Aug. 15, 1963, in Mexico City , where he studied filmmaking and theater. From 1986 to 1989, he composed the music for several Mexican feature films. In 1990, he became a producer at Televisa, a Mexican television company. In 1991, he established Zeta Films, a company that produced short films, advertisements, and TV programs in Mexico. The following year he began studying filmmaking in Maine and Los Angeles.
The first feature film that Iñárritu directed was the drama Amores Perros (2000). The movie, which is set in Mexico City, tells three interconnected stories. His second feature film was the acclaimed drama 21 Grams (2003), about three people whose lives are connected by a tragic accident. Iñárritu was also one of 11 directors who contributed to 11’09”01 – September 11 (2002), a film about the worldwide influence of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks upon the United States. In 2007, Iñárritu became the first Mexican to receive an Oscar nomination for best director, for the drama Babel (2006). He also directed the drama Biutiful (2010).
