Diego Quemada-Diez embarked on his film career in 1995 as a clapper loader on Ken Loach's "Land and Freedom." Shortly after, he ventured to the United States to work on an independent film by Isabel Coixet. Following several years of experience in LA's film industry, he saved enough to attend the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI).
His graduation film, "A Table is a Table," garnered the Best Cinematography Award from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). He then collaborated as a camera operator with renowned directors, including Alejandro Gonzalez-Iñarritu, Tony Scott, Fernando Meirelles, and Spike Lee, while concurrently writing and directing his own short films and documentaries.
In 2006, he premiered his second short film, "I Want to Be A Pilot," at the Sundance Film Festival. The film went on to play at over 200 festivals, winning over 50 awards, including the Audience Award at the La Mostra Sao Paulo Film Festival and a Special Mention at the Amiens Film Festival.
That same year, he relocated to Mexico, where he directed his short documentary "La Morena," which premiered at the 2007 Morelia Film Festival.
In 2010, he participated in the Cannes Film Festival Atelier workshop with his first long-feature film, "La Jaula de Oro" (The Golden Dream). The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard official selection, earning the Un Certain Talent Award, the Gillo Pontecorvo Award, and the François Chalais Special Mention Award.
He received numerous accolades for his direction, including Best Director at the Vladivostock Film Festival, Best New Director Hugo Award at the Chicago Film Festival, Best Director at the Tesalonica Film Festival, Best Director at the Havana New York Film Festival, Best Director at the Luis Buñuel Calanda Film Festival in Spain, Best Director from the Satjavit Ray Foundation at the London Film Festival, and the Jean Renoir Award in France.
The film went on to win Best First Film at the Havana Film Festival and Best Film at the Mumbai, Mar de Plata, Tesalónica, and Zurich film festivals. In its Mexican premiere at the Morelia Film Festival, "La Jaula de Oro" won three awards: the Audience Award, Best First Film, and the Press Guerrero Award.
It also won nine Arieles from the Mexican Film Academy, including Best Film, Best First Film, and Best Original Screenplay. The film was nominated at the 2014 Goya Awards and was eligible for the 88th Academy Awards.
Diego Quemada-Diez subsequently naturalized as a Mexican in 2013.
