Gael García Bernal: An American Cinematheque Tribute

ABOUT THE SERIES 

The American Cinematheque is thrilled to welcome actor Gael García Bernal in-person for his newest film CASSANDRO along with a tribute to some of his iconic performances with the films Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, AMORES PERROS and BABEL.

GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL  is an award-winning actor, producer, and director. He gained critical acclaim and a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle in 2016, with the show winning a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series. In 2017, Bernal received an additional Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in the second season. In 2016, Time magazine named him in the annual Time 100 most influential people list. In 2020, The New York Times ranked him No. 25 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

Bernal has starred in countless films, including the globally celebrated feature Alfonso Cuaron’s Academy Award-nominated Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN and THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, for which he received a BAFTA and Satellite Award nomination in 2005 for Best Actor. In 2006, BAFTA nominated Bernal in the Rising Star category, acknowledging new talent in the acting industry.

His additional film credits include ROSEWATER (2014), ARDOR (2014), DESIERTO (2015), and NERUDA (2016), which earned Bernal the Best Actor in a Foreign Language Film at the Palm Springs Film Festival. The film was nominated for Golden Globe’s Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language in 2017. That same year, he voiced Héctor, the main character of the Academy Award-winning Pixar animated feature COCO. MUSEO, THE ACCUSED, Netflix’s THE KINDERGARDEN TEACHER, Netflix’s WASP NETWORK, Pablo Larraín’s EMA, M. Night Shyamalan’s OLD, the HBO Max limited series Station Eleven, and Marvel’s special Werewolf by Night currently streaming on Disney+.

Bernal is currently producing and starring in Hulu’s “La Máquina” alongside Diego Luna and Eiza Gonzalez, directed by Gabriel Ripstein. It will stream on Disney’s DTC platforms as a Hulu Original. He also starred in and produced Oscar-winning documentary director Roger Ross Williams’ first narrative, CASSANDRO, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023.

Besides his work in front of the camera, Bernal continues expanding his roles behind the scenes. Teaming with producing longtime friend and business partner Diego Luna, the duo founded La Corriente del Golfo, a Mexico City-based production company, to produce resonant, timely material designed to entertain and enlighten audiences. Initially drawing from the wealth of material created by a close-knit group of actors, writers, and directors, Bernal and Luna continuously seek to champion both emerging storytellers and established filmmakers alike. The result is a diverse slate of projects, including the political thriller series Aquí en la Tierra, Bernal’s second directed feature film, CHICUAROTES, and Netflix’s series Everything Will Be Fine.