Antonio Méndez Esparza

Méndez Esparza was born in Madrid, where he obtained a law degree. He studied filmmaking at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at Columbia University, where he received an MFA.^[2]

His 2009 short film Time and Again (Una y otra vez) won the narrative short prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival^[3] and earned him a Latino filmmaker prize at the Directors Guild of America's Student Film Awards.^[4] His first feature, Aquí y allá, premiered in the Critics' Week at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and won the section's Grand Prize.^[5] The film also received a special mention at the 2012 AFI Fest^[6] and earned him a nomination for the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director.^[7] Both films depict experiences of Mexican migrants to the United States with non-professional actors.^[8]

His second feature, Life and Nothing More, premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and won the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards.^[9] Shot in Tallahassee with a small crew and non-professional actors, the film depicts a struggling African-American family in Florida.^[10][11][12]

His third feature and first documentary, Courtroom 3H, premiered in competition at the 2020 San Sebastián International Film Festival.^[13] The film documents proceedings in a Tallahassee family court presided by a judge with whom Méndez Esparza became acquainted while making Life and Nothing More.^[14][15]

In 2022, he directed the comedy thriller Something Is About to Happen, which he co-wrote with Clara Roquet based on the novel Que nadie duerma by Juan José Millás, in Spain.^[16][17]