EXCLUSIVE: Mexican director made waves in Sundance with I Dream In Another Language.

I Dream in Another Language

Mexican filmmaker Ernesto Contreras has signed with Valor Entertainment and The Paradigm Agency.

Contreras earned wider international renown with his fourth feature I Dream In Another Language (Sueño en Otro Idioma), which premiered in Sundance back in January.

The drama – about a linguist who uncovers a unique story when he meets the last speakers of a dying language in a remote Mexican village – received backing some years ago from the ‎Sundance Institute’s Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award.

It went on to win this year’s World Cinema Dramatic audience award in Park City and Film Rise acquired North American rights from international sales agent Mundial, the Latino subsidiary of IM Global.

Contreras recently directed half of the new series El Chapo for Univision Communication’s Story House Entertainment and Netflix, based on the life of Mexican cartel head Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman. The show premiered on April 23 on Univision.

Contreras’s first film, Blue Eyelids (Párpados Azules), screened in Cannes, San Sebastián, Tokyo, and Sundance.

He subsequently directed the documentary Seguir Siendo: Café Tacvba, and The Obscure Spring (Las Oscuras Primaveras).

Contreras is represented by talent manager Carlos Bobadilla of Valor Entertainment and Paradigm.