Nicolás Pereda

Nicolás Pereda (born 1982) is a Mexican-Canadian film director, whose films regularly blend aspects of both narrative fiction and documentary.^[1]

Nicolás Pereda
Pereda at the Berlinale in 2016
Born	1982
Nationality	Mexican, Canadian
Occupation(s)	Film director and writer
Years active	2000s–present
Spouse	Andrea Bussmann

Personal life

Pereda was born in Mexico City in 1982; he holds dual Mexican and Canadian citizenship^{[citation needed]} and is a resident of Toronto, where he studied filmmaking at York University.^[2] He received his Bachelor degree of Fine Arts in Films in 2005 and his Master in 2007.^[3]

He is married to film director Andrea Bussmann, with whom he codirected the 2016 film Tales of Two Who Dreamt.^[4]

Career

Pereda's films, which have been financed by both Mexican and Canadian funds, have been predominantly shot in Mexico and are "resolutely Mexican in their intimate attention to class, culture, social structure, and family relations in Mexican society."^[5]

His films have been exhibited in festivals around the world, including at the Venice Film Festival, Berlinale, Rotterdam, and the Toronto International Film Festival. Pereda's work has also been presented at several retrospectives in various festivals, cinemateques and archives around the world, including the Anthology Film Archives,^[6] the Pacific Film Archive, and the Harvard Film Archive, which wrote of his work: "Pereda’s films are resolutely Mexican in focus and almost exclusively deal with stories drawn directly from the everyday lives and worlds of their working-class characters."^[7][8][9]

His films have been described as "meticulous, minimalist, deadpan."^[5][10]

Other work

He formerly served as the director of the Filmmaking Program, a new BFA program at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey.^[11] He is currently an assistant professor at University of California, Berkeley.

Awards

• 2016 Special Mention – RIDM, Montreal, Canada for Tales of Two who Dreamt
• 2016 Best film– FICUNAM, Mexico for Minotaur
• 2015 Special Mention – Margenes Festival, Spain for The Absent
• 2014 Best film– FICUNAM, Mexico for The Palace
• 2013 Best documentary – Curtas Vila Do Conde, Portugal for The Palace
• 2013 Special Mention- Cosquín Film Festival, Argentina for The Palace
• 2013 Best Documentary – Alucine Film Festival, Canada for The Palace
• 2013 Jay Scott Prize - Toronto Film Critics Association, Canada^[12]
• 2012 Grand Prix du Jury - Festival La Roche-sur-Yon, France for Greatest Hits
• 2012 Fipresci Award – Habana Film Festival, Cuba for Greatest Hits
• 2012 Best director - Lakino :: Latin Film Festival Berlin, Germany for Greatest Hits
• 2012 Best film – Baja Film Festival, Los Cabos, Mexico for Greatest Hits
• 2012 Best film – Courtisane Film Festival, Belgium for Interview with the earth
• 2011 Best film – Cinema of the Future – BAFICI, Argentina for Summer of Goliath
• 2010 Premio Orizzonti – Venice Film Festival, Italy for Summer of Goliath
• 2010 Best film – Valdivia International Film Festival, Chile for Summer of Goliath
• 2010 Critics prize - Valdivia International Film Festival, Chile for Summer of Goliath
• 2010 Special Mention – L’alternativa, Spain for Summer of Goliath
• 2010 Images Prize - Images Festival, Toronto for All things were now overtaken by silence
• 2010 Best film - World Cinema Amsterdam, Netherlands for Juntos
• 2010 Best film - Guadalajara International Film Festival, Mexico for Perpetuum Mobile
• 2009 Best film - Monterrey International Film Festival, Mexico for Perpetuum Mobile
• 2009 Best director - Gramado International Film Festival, Brasil for Perpetuum Mobile
• 2009 Best film -Under construction, Toulouse Film Festival, France for Perpetuum Mobile
• 2009 K.M. Hunter Artist Award, Canada
• 2008 Best film - Levante Film Festival, Italia for Interview with the Earth
• 2008 Best documentary - Curtas Vila do Conde, Portugal for Interview with the Earth
• 2008 Best documentary – Guanajuato film festival, Mexico for Interview with the Earth
• 2008 Best documentary - Flexiff, Australia for Interview with the Earth
• 2008 French critics award - Toulouse Film Festival, France for Where are their Stories
• 2007 Best film - Morelia International Film Festival, Mexico for Where are their Stories

Filmography

• Where Are Their Stories? (¿Dónde están sus historias?) - 2007
• Interview with the Earth (Entrevista con la tierra) - 2008
• Together (Juntos) - 2009
• Perpetuum Mobile - 2009
• All Things Were Now Overtaken by Silence (Todo, en fin, el silencio lo ocupaba) - 2010
• Summer of Goliath (Verano de Goliat) - 2010
• The Greatest Hits (Los mejores temas) - 2012
• Killing Strangers (Matar extraños) - 2013
• The Palace (El palacio) - 2013
• The Absent (Los ausentes) - 2014
• The Empty Classroom (El aula vacía) - 2015
• Minotaur (Minotauro) - 2015
• Tales of Two Who Dreamt (Historias de dos que soñaron) - 2016
• My Skin, Luminous (Mi piel, luminosa) - 2019
• Fauna - 2020
• Dear Chantal (Querida Chantal) - 2021
• Lázaro at Night (Lázaro de noche) - 2024
• Copper (Cobre) - 2025