Alejandro Iñarritu keynote speaker

Academy Award-winning director, writer and producer Alejandro G. Iñárritu is one of the most acclaimed and well-regarded filmmakers working today.

Iñárritu won his second consecutive Academy Award for Best Director for The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. He co-wrote the film with Mark L. Smith. The epic adventure film, which received 12 Academy Award nominations, follows trapper Hugh Glass, who, driven by his love for his son, sets out on a quest for revenge against the harrowing backdrop of the 19th century American frontier.

Last year Iñárritu won three Academy Awards for directing, co-writing and co-producing Best Picture winner Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). The acclaimed dark comedy also won Best Cinematography and was nominated for an additional five Academy Awards. Iñárritu won a DGA Award and a PGA Award for the Fox Searchlight film, which starred Oscar nominees Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton.

Iñárritu made his feature directorial debut with Amores Perros, a drama that explored Mexican society told through the perspective of three intertwining stories connected by a car accident in Mexico City. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2001 Academy Awards.

His next film, 21 Grams, was nominated for two Academy Awards for Lead Actress Naomi Watts and Supporting Actor Benicio del Toro and released by Focus Features. His third film, Babel, released by Paramount Pictures, premiered at Cannes where Iñárritu won Best Director. That same year, Babel subsequently went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture Drama, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including two for Iñárritu for Best Picture and Best Director. With his two nominations, Iñárritu became the first Mexican filmmaker to ever be nominated for either director or producer in the history of the Academy Awards. Iñárritu’s fourth film, Biutiful, was his first Spanish-language film since Amores Perros. He directed and produced the acclaimed drama, which he also co-wrote with Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobone. The Focus Features film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Javier Bardem was nominated for Best Actor for his moving lead performance.

Iñárritu first began his career as a radio host and radio director at Mexican rock radio station WFM, which became the number one radio station in Mexico during his time. After working in radio, Iñárritu spent three years studying theater in Mexico City with Ludwik Margules, and then began writing, producing and directing short films and commercials under his Z Films company in Mexico.