Fernando de Fuentes

Biography

Director of two classic films of Mexican Cinema, Compadre Mendoza, El (1933) and ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (1935), De Fuentes began his career as second assistant director in Santa (1931), the first "talkie" produced in Mexico. His technical abilities promoted him to direct Anónimo, El (1932). De Fuentes is considered a pioneer in Mexican movies and a truly gifted director who combined superb technical abilities with a extraordinary sense for visu al narrative. His best films are those made on the early years of Mexican film industry. He "invented" a genre: the Mexican comedy (comedia ranchera) with Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936), the first Mexican film with great success in foreign markets -a sort of musical Como Agua Para Chocolate (1992) of the 30s. He discovered Gabriel Figueroa and pioneered genres such as horror, melodrama and historical. De Fuentes was the first Mexican director who made a film in color: Asi se Quiere en Jalisco (1942). He also was the first to make a film in coproduction with another country: Jalisco Canta en Sevilla (1948), coproduced with Spain.