Known for Writing
Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (born 31 March 1972) is a Spanish film director. Amenábar was born in Santiago, Chile to a Spanish mother and Chilean father, but the family moved to Spain just one year after his birth. He studied cinema at Madrid's Universidad Complutense but eventually dropped out. In addition to writing and directing his own films, Amenábar has maintained a notable career as a composer of film scores, including the Goya Awards-nominated score for José Luis Cuerda's La lengua de las mariposas. Amenábar was awarded the Grand Prix of the Jury at the International Venice Film Festival in 2004 for Mar adentro ("The Sea Inside"), and in February 2005 the same film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In February 2004, Amenábar came out to the Spanish gay magazine Shangay Express. Amenábar shot in 2008 an epic film called Ágora which he wrote with Mateo Gil. The film is set in Roman Egypt and is based on the life of philosopher and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria.
Born
March 31, 1972 (age 54)
Birthplace
Santiago de Chile, Chile
Filmography
48 films, 7 shows


The Captive
2025 · 2h 14m
country: Italy
In 1575, the young soldier Miguel de Cervantes is captured on the high seas by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers as a hostage. Aware that a cruel death awaits him if his family does not pay his ransom soon, he finds refuge in his passion for storytelling.


While at War
2019 · 1h 48m
country: Argentina
Salamanca, Spain, 1936. In the early days of the military rebellion that began the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), writer Miguel de Unamuno supports the uprising in the hope that the prevailing political chaos will end. But when the confrontation becomes bloody, Unamuno must question his initial position.


Regression
2015 · 1h 46m
country: Canada
Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner investigates the case of young Angela, who accuses her father, John Gray, of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.


Agora
2009 · 2h 7m
country: Spain
A historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria and her relationship with her slave Davus, who is torn between his love for her and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.


The Sea Inside
2004 · 2h 6m
country: Spain
Ramón Sampedro is a ship mechanic and part-time poet left a quadriplegic following a diving accident. Ramón fought for 30 years for the legal right to end his own life. He develops close relationships with his long-term lawyer Julia and his friend Rosa, who tries to convince him that his life is worth living. Despite his situation, Ramón manages to inspire those around him to live life to the fullest.


The Others
2001 · 1h 41m
country: Spain
Grace is a woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.


Open Your Eyes
1997 · 1h 57m
country: Spain
Handsome 25-year-old Cesar had it all -- a successful career, expensive cars, a swank bachelor's pad, and an endless string of beautiful and willing women -- until he is thrown into a strange psychological mystery after a car accident scars his face and lands him in prison.


Thesis
1996 · 2h 5m
country: Spain
While working on a thesis about audiovisual violence, film student Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that she was a former student in her university, and that the authors of the video are not very far either.


Luna
1995 · 14m
country: Spain
A young man hitchhikes on a full-moon night and a young woman picks him up. The woman is a little crazy and gets angry. She takes a gun and shoots him. Next night she picks up another hitchhiker.


Himenóptero
1992 · 33m
country: Spain
A group of students around 18 years old gather at a high school to make a horror short film. The lead actress in the supposed short film is not motivated enough, so the director, who is quite harsh, decides to take advantage of the psychopathic traits of the boy operating the camera, who seems obsessed with the actress.