Pablo Berger | |
|---|---|
 Berger at the 32nd Goya Awards in 2018 | |
| Born | Pablo Berger Uranga 1963 (age 60–61) Bilbao, Spain |
Pablo Berger Uranga (born 1963) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He is known for directing and writing the silent drama film Blancanieves (2012), the black comedy films Torremolinos 73 (2003) and Abracadabra (2017), and the animated tragicomedy film Robot Dreams (2023).
Berger attended primary and secondary school in Artxanda Trueba, located on the outskirts of Bilbao, Spain. In 1988 he directed his first short film, Mamá (Mum) with artistic director Álex de la Iglesia and Ramon Barea. With the financial winnings from a grant from the Provincial Council of Biscay, he went to study for a masters in film at New York University. There he directed his short film Truth and Beauty, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award.
After getting his Ph.D., he worked as a professor of management at the New York Film Academy. Thereafter, he began a parallel career as a publicist and producer of music, culminating in 2003 with his first film Torremolinos 73,[1] with Javier Cámara, Fernando Tejero and Candela Peña. Torremolinos 73 won him a Golden Biznaga at the Malafa film Festival, as well as four Goya nominations and multiple national and international prizes. The movie became one of the box office successes of the year in Spain.
In 2012 he premiered his second film Blancanieves (Snow White), which was the Spanish representative of the Academy Awards in 2013, in the category of Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Blancanieves won ten Goya Awards, including Best Film and Best Original Screenplay. It also received the trophy of the 9th edition of Bucharest International Film Festival[2] and a Best Actress Silver Shell as well as the Special Jury prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival. It was also nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film in 2014 and to the EFA for Best Film and Best Director, where he won Best Wardrobe Design.
Pablo Berger is a Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France and member of the Hollywood Academy.
In 2017 he premiered Abracadabra, a comedy starring again Maribel Verdú, this was his second film produced by Arcadia Motion Pictures. It became a critical success and received 8 Goya nominations.
In May 2023 he premiered Robot Dreams, his first animated film, at Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on the graphic novel by the American author Sara Varon, and produced by Arcadia Motion Pictures. It is internationally sold by Elle Driver and was shown at the Annecy Film Festival in June. He has been nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature, but losing to Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron.
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Mamá | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2003 | Torremolinos 73 | Yes | Yes | Associate | Directorial debut |
| 2012 | Blancanieves | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2017 | Abracadabra | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2023 | Robot Dreams | Yes | Yes | Yes |
