Directing

Ernesto Contreras

Born October 17, 1969 · Veracruz, Mexico (age 56)

Born in Veracruz, Mexico, in 1969, he is a graduate from the Center for Studies in Communication Sciences and later from the University Center for Cinematographic Studies (CUEC) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In 2007, his first feature, Blue Eyelids, is nominated to the Caméra d'Or of the 60th Cannes Film Festival as part of the official selection of the International Critics' We…

Known For

I Dream in Another Language

I Dream in Another Language · 2017

I Dream in Another Language

MovieFantasyDrama

An indigenous language is in peril, as its last two speakers had a quarrel in the past and haven't spoken to each other in over 50 years. Martín, a young linguist, will undertake the challenge of bringing the old friends back together and convincing them to speak once again so he can obtain a recorded registration of the language and study it.

Impossible Things

Impossible Things · 2021

Impossible Things

MovieFamilyDrama

After the death of her abusive husband, Matilde finds her new best friend in Miguel, her young, insecure, and disoriented neighbor.

Where the Tracks End

Where the Tracks End · 2023

Where the Tracks End

MovieDramaComedy

Georgina is a teacher determined to make a difference in the lives of the children she educates in the classroom of a wagon school in rural Mexico.

The Obscure Spring

The Obscure Spring · 2014

The Obscure Spring

Igor is a plumber; Pina serves coffee. It is winter and they both deeply desire each other, but they are not free. In trying to figure out how to realize their love, she decides to make a lion costume for her little son and he decides to buy a photocopying machine for his wife. Spring will come at last and with it the consummation of love, filling their lives with hope and sex.

Blue Eyelids

Blue Eyelids · 2007

MovieDramaRomance

Marina wins a paradise vacation for two, but when she realizes that she has no one to bring along, she decides to invite a stranger named Victor. The pair soon discovers that true love depends more on compatibility rather than idyllic scenery.

Dad or Mom

Dad or Mom · 2023

Florencia and Vicente are getting divorced. When both are promoted at their jobs, they will do anything in order to do not keep custody of their children.

Continue Being: Café Tacvba

Continue Being: Café Tacvba · 2010

Continue Being: Café Tacvba

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A rock band traveling many places of the world, and on planes, buses, in hotels and dressing rooms we discover the creative process that brings them together, their friendship, frustrations and the desire of still being a rock band, the most important rock band in Mexico, on the year that they celebrate 20 years of being Café Tacvba.

Tales of Mexico

Tales of Mexico · 2017

Tales of Mexico

MovieDramaHistory

The space will be witness of dreams, hopes, disappointments and dramatic destinies of its residents, delivering an intimate human history of Mexico through the decades. La Habitación will reunite eight directors that will expose the reality of each historical period resulting in a profound and inspiring portrait of modern Mexico.

Filmography

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I Dream in Another Language

I Dream in Another Language · 2017

I Dream in Another Language

MovieFantasyDrama

An indigenous language is in peril, as its last two speakers had a quarrel in the past and haven't spoken to each other in over 50 years. Martín, a young linguist, will undertake the challenge of bringing the old friends back together and convincing them to speak once again so he can obtain a recorded registration of the language and study it.

Director

Impossible Things

Impossible Things · 2021

Impossible Things

MovieFamilyDrama

After the death of her abusive husband, Matilde finds her new best friend in Miguel, her young, insecure, and disoriented neighbor.

Director

Where the Tracks End

Where the Tracks End · 2023

Where the Tracks End

MovieDramaComedy

Georgina is a teacher determined to make a difference in the lives of the children she educates in the classroom of a wagon school in rural Mexico.

Executive Producer

The Obscure Spring

The Obscure Spring · 2014

The Obscure Spring

Igor is a plumber; Pina serves coffee. It is winter and they both deeply desire each other, but they are not free. In trying to figure out how to realize their love, she decides to make a lion costume for her little son and he decides to buy a photocopying machine for his wife. Spring will come at last and with it the consummation of love, filling their lives with hope and sex.

Director

Blue Eyelids

Blue Eyelids · 2007

MovieDramaRomance

Marina wins a paradise vacation for two, but when she realizes that she has no one to bring along, she decides to invite a stranger named Victor. The pair soon discovers that true love depends more on compatibility rather than idyllic scenery.

Director

Dad or Mom

Dad or Mom · 2023

Florencia and Vicente are getting divorced. When both are promoted at their jobs, they will do anything in order to do not keep custody of their children.

Director

Continue Being: Café Tacvba

Continue Being: Café Tacvba · 2010

Continue Being: Café Tacvba

MovieDocumentaryMusic

A rock band traveling many places of the world, and on planes, buses, in hotels and dressing rooms we discover the creative process that brings them together, their friendship, frustrations and the desire of still being a rock band, the most important rock band in Mexico, on the year that they celebrate 20 years of being Café Tacvba.

Writer

Tales of Mexico

Tales of Mexico · 2017

Tales of Mexico

MovieDramaHistory

The space will be witness of dreams, hopes, disappointments and dramatic destinies of its residents, delivering an intimate human history of Mexico through the decades. La Habitación will reunite eight directors that will expose the reality of each historical period resulting in a profound and inspiring portrait of modern Mexico.

Director

The Miracle

The Miracle · 2003

A miracle is about to happen, Margarita, like everyone wants to attend, but Alfonso, her husband, believes that everything is a sham.

Director

The Convict Patient

The Convict Patient · 2012

The Convict Patient

MovieDocumentary

On February th 1970, Carlos Castañeda de la Fuente tried to assassinate the Mexican President to avenge the Tlatelolco massacre from October 2nd 1968, defying the most repressive regime in the contemporary Mexican history. Forty years later, this failed avenger survived the system´s disproportionate retaliation, only to wander Mexico City´s streets as a vagrant.

Editor

Los No Invitados

Los No Invitados · 2003

Los No Invitados

MovieDramaMystery

After years of suffering from a sleep disorder, Asunción turns to a specialist who will help her discover the causes of her insomnia.

Director

El Chapo

El Chapo · 2017

SeriesDramaCrime

A look at the life of notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo, from his early days in the 1980s working for the Guadalajara Cartel, to his rise to power of during the '90s and his ultimate downfall in 2016.

Director

Conversando con Cristina Pacheco

Conversando con Cristina Pacheco · 1997

Conversando con Cristina Pacheco

Ernesto Contreras

The Secret of the River

The Secret of the River · 2024

The Secret of the River

When a young boy arrives in a small Mexican village, a profound friendship blossoms with a local kid — and a dark secret seals their bond forever.

Executive Producer

I Have to Die Every Night

I Have to Die Every Night · 2024

I Have to Die Every Night

Snapshot of the sophisticated and exclusive gay nightlife of one of the most emblematic clubs in 1980s’ Mexico City, where people living under the weight of a repressive society that marginalized them felt the need to express an exacerbated sense of freedom. Through the eyes of a young man eager to explore the world and live freely in the capital city, the series recreates a slice of life and a decade that shook the world.

Director

I'm Not Afraid

I'm Not Afraid · 2026

10-year-old Miguel stumbles upon a terrifying secret involving a boy trapped in a hole near his home.

Executive Producer

Belascoaran, PI

Belascoaran, PI · 2022

Belascoaran, PI

SeriesCrimeDrama

Héctor Belascoarán leaves his corporate job and dull marriage to become an independent detective and tackle shocking criminal cases in 1970s Mexico City.

Director

Before I Forget

Before I Forget · 2021

Before I Forget

SeriesCrimeDrama

Pascual León, a retired 65-year-old man, finds out how to give meaning to his last days after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's: to avenge a past crime before his memory loss erases everything that he is.

Director

Everyday Heroes

Everyday Heroes · 2014

Everyday Heroes

SeriesDocumentary

Heroes Cotidianos is a series of six episodes recounting the stories of real people who happen to have become true heroes of our time and of their own communities.

Creator