Ariel Award for Best Director

Ariel Award for Best Director
Awarded for"Excellence in cinematic direction achievement"
CountryMexico
Presented byAMACC
First awarded1947
Currently held byLila Avilés,
Tótem (2024)
Websitepremioariel.com.mx

The Ariel Award for Best Director (Premio Ariel a la Mejor Dirección, officially known as the Ariel Award for Best Directing) is an award presented by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas (AMACC) in Mexico. It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the Mexican film industry. In 1947, the 1st and 2nd Ariel Awards were held, with Roberto Gavaldón and Emilio "El Indio" Fernández winning for the films La Barraca and Enamorada, respectively. With the exception of the years 1959 to 1971, when the Ariel Awards were suspended, the award has been given annually.[1] Nominees and winners are determined by a committee formed every year consisting of academy members (active and honorary), previous winners and individuals with at least two Ariel nominations; the committee members submit their votes through the official AMACC website.[2]

In 1953, filmmakers Luis Buñuel, Alfredo B. Crevenna and Gavaldón were nominated, but no winner was declared.[3] Carlos Carrera and Fernández hold the record for most wins in the category, with four each.[3] Carerra's El Crimen del Padre Amaro was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003.[4] Since 1976, Felipe Cazals has been nominated at least once every decade, winning three times for El Año de la Peste (1980), Bajo la metralla (1984), and Las Vueltas del Citrillo (2006).[3] Buñuel and Amat Escalante won the Ariel for Best Director and the same award at the Cannes Film Festival for Los Olvidados and Heli, respectively.[5] Alfonso Cuarón won the Ariel and the Academy Award for Best Direction, Cuarón is the first one to win both accolades for the same film. Since its inception, the award has been given to 40 directors. As of the 2024 ceremony, Lila Avilés is the most recent winner in this category for her work on Tótem.

  1. ^ "Historia del Ariel" (in Spanish). Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  2. ^ "Reglamento Premio Ariel 2016" (PDF) (in Spanish). Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas. Retrieved May 24, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c Pérez, Javier (May 28, 2013). "20 Curiosidades del Ariel". Chilango (in Spanish). Grupo Expansión. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  4. ^ "The 75th Academy Awards — 2003". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2003. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  5. ^ Alemán, Ma. Cristina (April 13, 2016). "La Historia del Cine Mexicano en el Festival de Cannes". Morelia International Film Festival (in Spanish). FICM. Archived from the original on May 23, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.