Nicolás Pereda

Nicolás Pereda
Pereda at the Berlinale in 2016
Born1982 (age 43–44)
OccupationsFilm director and writer
Years active2000s–present
SpouseAndrea Bussmann

Nicolás Pereda (born 1982) is a Mexican-Canadian film director. His films regularly blend aspects and techniques of both narrative fiction and documentary filmmaking.[1] His films include Where Are Their Stories? (2007), Summer of Goliath (2010), Tales of Two Who Dreamt (2016), Fauna (2020), Lázaro at Night (2024), and Copper (2025).

Early life

Pereda was born in Mexico City in 1982; he holds dual Mexican and Canadian citizenship and is a resident of Toronto, where he studied filmmaking at York University.[2] He received his Bachelor degree of Fine Arts in Films in 2005 and his Master in 2007.[3]

Career

Pereda's award-winning films include Where Are Their Stories? (2007),[4] Summer of Goliath (2010),[4][4][4] Tales of Two Who Dreamt (2016),[5][6] Fauna (2020),[7][8][9] Lázaro at Night (2024),[10][11][12] and Copper (2025).[13][14][14] His films have been described as "meticulous, minimalist, deadpan."[15][16] His films regularly blend aspects and techniques of both narrative fiction and documentary filmmaking.[1]

Pereda's films, which have been financed by both Mexican and Canadian arts grants and funding bodies, have been predominantly shot in Mexico and are "resolutely Mexican in their intimate attention to class, culture, social structure, and family relations in Mexican society."[15]

His films have been exhibited in festivals around the world, including at the Venice Film Festival, Berlinale, Rotterdam, and the Toronto International Film Festival. Pereda's work has also been presented at several archives, retrospectives, and cinematheques,[17] including the Anthology Film Archives, the Pacific Film Archive, and the Harvard Film Archive, the latter of which wrote of his work: "Pereda’s films are resolutely Mexican in focus and almost exclusively deal with stories drawn directly from the everyday lives and worlds of their working-class characters."[18][19][20]

Other work

Pereda formerly served as the director of the Filmmaking Program, a new BFA program at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey.[21] He is currently an assistant professor at University of California, Berkeley.

Personal life

Pereda is married to film director Andrea Bussmann, with whom he codirected the 2016 film Tales of Two Who Dreamt.[22]

Awards

Pereda has won several awards for his filmmaking work, including the $10,000 Jay Scott Prize from the Toronto Film Critics Association in 2013,[23] and an honorable mention from the jury for the Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Film at TIFF.[24]

His other filmmaking awards include:

Filmography

  • Where Are Their Stories? (¿Dónde están sus historias?), 2007
  • Interview with the Earth (Entrevista con la tierra), 2008
  • Together (Juntos), 2009
  • Perpetuum Mobile, 2009
  • All Things Were Now Overtaken by Silence (Todo, en fin, el silencio lo ocupaba), 2010
  • Summer of Goliath (Verano de Goliat), 2010
  • The Greatest Hits (Los mejores temas), 2012
  • Killing Strangers (Matar extraños), 2013
  • The Palace (El palacio), 2013
  • The Absent (Los ausentes), 2014
  • The Empty Classroom (El aula vacía), 2015
  • Minotaur (Minotauro), 2015
  • Tales of Two Who Dreamt (Historias de dos que soñaron), 2016
  • My Skin, Luminous (Mi piel, luminosa), 2019
  • Fauna, 2020
  • Dear Chantal (Querida Chantal), 2021
  • Lázaro at Night (Lázaro de noche), 2024
  • Copper (Cobre), 2025

References

  1. ^ a b Janet Smith, " Mexican-Canadian director Nicolás Pereda embraces the awkward and elliptical in Fauna". Stir, August 26, 2021.
  2. ^ James Adams (8 January 2013). "Sarah Polley's family doc wins $100,000 prize at Toronto Film Critics' gala". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Other honorees on Tuesday were Ryerson University's Andrew Moir, awarded the $5,000 Manulife Financial Best Student Film Award for his short documentary on Lou Gehrig's disease, Just As I Remember, and York University film graduate Nicolás Pereda, named the recipient of the TFCA Jay Scott Prize for talented emerging artist. The prize, named after the late Globe and Mail film critic (1949-1993), consists of a $5,000 cash award and $5,000 in post-production services.
  3. ^ Microsoft Word - cvNicolasPereda2020.docx (berkeley.edu)
  4. ^ a b c d Koehler, Robert (8 February 2008). "Where Are Their Stories?". Variety. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  5. ^ Dunschen, Tobias (19 January 2016). "Berlinale 2016 : Berlinale Special & Forum". Critique Film (in French). Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  6. ^ Pacheco, Paloma (30 September 2016). "Preview: Werewolf and Tales of Two Who Dreamt at VIFF". SAD Mag. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  7. ^ Wilner, Norman (24 June 2020). "TIFF's 2020 festival plan: A mix of in-person and virtual events - NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  8. ^ Dunschen, Tobias (19 January 2016). "Berlinale 2016 : Berlinale Special & Forum". Critique Film (in French). Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  9. ^ Dunschen, Tobias (19 January 2016). "Berlinale 2016 : Berlinale Special & Forum". Critique Film (in French). Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  10. ^ Rizov, Vadim (9 September 2024). "TIFF 2024: Lázaro at Night, Hard Truths". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  11. ^ Calnan, Ellie. "FIDMarseille 2024 line-up includes Ghassan Salhab, Pierre Creton films". Screen. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  12. ^ Calnan, Ellie. "FIDMarseille 2024 line-up includes Ghassan Salhab, Pierre Creton films". Screen. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  13. ^ Gorham, Luke (21 July 2025). "Copper — Nicolás Pereda [FIDMarseille '25 Review]". In Review Online. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  14. ^ a b "Fuck the Polis triumphs at FIDMarseille". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 14 July 2025. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  15. ^ a b "Where Are Their Stories? | The Cinematheque". www.thecinematheque.ca. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Nicolás Pereda". cinema-scope.com. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Where Are Their Stories? The Films of Nicolás Pereda - Harvard Film Archive". hcl.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  18. ^ "Nicolás Pereda | dafilms.com". dafilms.com. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Nicolás Pereda". IFFR. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  20. ^ Walls, Seth Colter (6 July 2011). "Nicolas Pereda: Here Are His Stories". Village Voice. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  21. ^ "Nicolás Pereda | Mason Gross School of the Arts". www.masongross.rutgers.edu. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  22. ^ Jason Anderson, "Local attention for international director: Mexican-Canadian filmmaker Nicolas Pereda gets belated recognition in adopted home". Toronto Star, 16 November 2012.
  23. ^ "Sarah Polley's family doc 'Stories We Tell' nabs $100,000 film prize". Canadian Press, January 8, 2013.
  24. ^ Alcinii, Daniele. "TIFF '20: "Inconvenient Indian" takes People's Choice Documentary Award". Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  25. ^ "K.M. Hunter Awards Archive (1995-2022) -". Retrieved 4 February 2026.
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