Alejandro Amenábar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alejandro Amenábar
Amenábar in 2025
Born	Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (1972-03-31) 31 March 1972 (age 53) Santiago, Chile
Citizenship	Chile Spain
Occupation	Film director screenwriter composer
Years active	1992–present
Spouse(s)	David Blanco ​ ​ (m. 2015; div. 2019)​

Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (born March 31, 1972) is a talented film director, screenwriter, and composer from Chile and Spain. He has won many important awards for his movies. These include nine Goya Awards, which are Spain's main film awards. He won Best Director for his 2001 film The Others. He also received an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for The Sea Inside. Alejandro writes or co-writes the scripts for all his films. He also composes almost all the music for them.

Alejandro Amenábar's Early Life

Alejandro Amenábar was born in Santiago, Chile, on March 31, 1972. His father was from Chile, and his mother was from Spain. He holds citizenship in both Chile and Spain. His family moved to Spain in August 1973 when he was just a baby. They settled in Madrid. When Alejandro was six years old, they moved to a small town outside Madrid called Paracuellos de Jarama.

Growing Up with a Love for Movies

Alejandro and his older brother, Ricardo, did not watch much television. From the age of 15, Alejandro spent a lot of time at the cinema. He loved watching movies. Besides films, he enjoyed writing stories and reading books. His mother said he could remember everything he read. As a child, he also created music easily using a keyboard and guitar.

Alejandro's Journey into Filmmaking

Alejandro started school at Padres Escolapios de Getafe. Later, he moved to the Alameda de Osuna Institute in Madrid. His parents wanted him to go to a good school. Before becoming a director, Alejandro worked different jobs. He saved money to buy his first camera. He wanted to use a camera before starting university film studies.

Learning and Meeting Key People

Alejandro went to Complutense University in Madrid to study film. He decided to leave university early to focus on directing. However, university was important because he met people who became key friends and colleagues. These included Sergio Rozas, Carlos Montero, and Eduardo Noriega. He also met Mateo Gil, a close friend. They promised to always support each other's film projects.

Alejandro Amenábar's Film Career

Between 1991 and 1994, Alejandro made three short films. These short films were called La Cabeza, Himenóptero, and Luna. They were very important for his first full-length movies.

Breakthrough with Thesis

A famous director named José Luis Cuerda helped Alejandro a lot. Cuerda read the script for Himenóptero and was very impressed. He decided to produce Alejandro's first major film, Thesis (1996). This movie was a thriller set at a university. Thesis made Alejandro famous and won seven Goya Awards. These included Best Picture and Best New Director.

International Success with Open Your Eyes and The Others

In 1997, Alejandro directed Open Your Eyes. This science fiction film was very popular at film festivals around the world. The famous actor Tom Cruise liked it so much that he bought the rights to remake it. Tom Cruise starred in the American version, called Vanilla Sky.

Alejandro's third full-length film was The Others (2001). This was a ghost story starring Nicole Kidman. It was a huge success worldwide, especially in Spain and the United States. The film won eight Goya Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The Sea Inside and Agora

In 2004, Amenábar released The Sea Inside. This film told the true story of Ramón Sampedro, a man who was paralyzed. The movie explored important ideas about life and dignity. It won 14 Goya Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It also won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004.

His next film was Agora, released in 2009. It starred well-known actors like Rachel Weisz. Agora was the most expensive Spanish film ever made at the time.

Recent Films and Music

After a break, Alejandro returned in 2015 with the thriller Regression. This movie starred Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson. It premiered at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Alejandro Amenábar also composes the music for his own films. He has also composed music for other movies. These include Butterfly's Tongue and Nobody Knows Anybody.

Alejandro Amenábar's Filmography

Movies

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Composer	Notes
1996	Thesis	Yes	Yes	Associate	Yes
1997	Open Your Eyes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
1999	Butterfly's Tongue	No	No	No	Yes
	Nobody Knows Anybody	No	No	No	Yes
2001	The Others	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
2004	The Sea Inside	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also editor
2009	Agora	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
2010	For the Good of Others	No	No	Yes	No
2015	Regression	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
2019	While at War	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2025	The Captive	Yes

Short Films

Television

See also

In Spanish: Alejandro Amenábar para niños