Oscars Special: Alfonso Cuarón (Best Director)

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón bagged the Oscar for best director at the 91st Academy Awards for his 2018 drama film Roma. His eighth directorial venture, Roma discusses a housekeeper for a middle-class Mexican family in 1970s Mexico City.

The 57-year-old becomes the fifth Mexican director winner in six years, after taking the Academy Award for the movie.

Alfonso has taken the award for the second time, previously winning for his science fiction thriller film, Gravity in 2014.

Alfonso Cuarón delivers his award acceptance speech in English. (Picture: Oscar)

Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez, and Nicolás Celis were the producers of the movie. It was first premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. Later, it was distributed to select theaters in Mexico and the United States before its online release on Netflix.

The directors, Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War), Adam McKay (Vice), Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite), and Spike Lee (BlacKKKlansman) were in line for the Oscars.

Alfonso Cuarón Bio; Early Life, Parents, Siblings

The legendary director was born as Alfonso Cuarón Orozco on 28 November 1961 to parents Alfredo Cuarón and Cristina Orozco. His father, Alfredo was a nuclear physicist who served for the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency.

Alfonso grew up in two brothers, Carlos, a filmmaker, and Alfredo, a conservation biologist in Mexico City. He studied philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and filmmaking at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Remarkable Career

While in the University, he met the director Carlos Marcovich and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Later, they decided what would be his first short film, Vengeance Is Mine.

Alfonso made his directorial debut from full-feature film Sólo con Tu Pareja in 1991. He produced and directed Great Expectations, the contemporary film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1861 novel of the same name in 1998.

He directed the controversial public service announcement “I Am Autism” for Autism Speaks. However, it was criticized by disability rights groups for its negative portrayal of autism.

Net Worth

As a producer, he made several movies such as Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Rudo y Cursi (2008) and Desierto (2015). The multi-talented director has accumulated the estimated net worth of $40million through his remarkable venture in the movie industry.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Family; Wife, Divorce, Children

Alfonso was firstly married to actress and writer Mariana Elizondo in 1980. The former couple, who got divorced in 1993, have a son, Jonás Cuarón, born in 1981.

Alfonso Cuarón and his son Jonás Cuarón at Mexico City, Mexico in 2013. (Picture: Getty Images)

Later, he married for the second time with Italian actress and freelance journalist Annalisa Bugliani in 2001. They have two children: a daughter, Tess Bu Cuarón, born in 2002, and a son Olmo Teodoro Cuarón, born in 2005. However, he got a divorce to wife Annalisa after seven years of marriage in 2008.

Some Interesting Facts About Alfonso Cuarón

• Alfonso is a vegan and is fond of vegetarian dish.
• His eldest son Jonás Cuarón is also a film director, with whom he collaborated while making Gravity.
• Cuarón is an admirer of the Esperanto language, the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. He supports for the Esperanto movement and even calls his production company as Esperanto Filmoj.
• He was the Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014.