Alfonso Arau has had a long and illustrious career, marked by numerous accomplishments both in front of and behind the camera. He is widely regarded as one of the most prominent Latino film-makers in Hollywood, with a career spanning over twenty years.
Arau's journey as a drama disciple began under the guidance of Seki Sano, a Japanese teacher who was a classmate of Lee Strasberg and studied with Konstantin Stanislavski in Russia. From 1964 to 1968, he traveled the world with his one-man show, "Pantomime Happy Madness", after studying with Etienne Decroux and Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
As a renowned writer-producer-director-actor, Arau has made significant contributions to both theater and film. In 1969, he directed his first feature film, "El águila descalza" (1971),in which he also starred. He has gone on to direct many films in Mexico, including "Inspector Calzonzin" (1974) and "Mojado Power" (1981),earning him six Arieles, the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar, and numerous international film awards.
Arau has also acted in a number of Mexican and Hollywood films, including "The Wild Bunch" (1969),"El Topo" (1970),"Mojado Power" (1981),"Used Cars" (1980),"Romancing the Stone" (1984),"Three Amigos!" (1986),and "Committed" (2000). In addition to directing "Like Water for Chocolate" (1992),his directing credits include "A Walk in the Clouds" (1995) with Keanu Reeves and "Picking Up the Pieces" (2000) with Woody Allen.
For television, Arau has worked on "The Magnificent Ambersons" (2001),a project based on the script of Orson Welles' film version ("The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942)) and the novel by Booth Tarkington.
