Luis Mandoki
About
Biography
Biography
Luis Mandoki studied fine art long before he decided to become a film director. His education took him from his native Mexico to California, where he studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. He moved to England, enrolling in the London College of Printing, and later made his first film while attending the London International Film School. The short would win an award at the International Amateur Film Festival being held at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976. He returned to Mexico to work at the Conacine, the Instituto Nacional Indigenista, and the Centro de Produccion de Cortometraje. He gained international acclaim with his 1984 effort, "Gaby: A True Story," a dramatized, biographical account of a writer suffering from cerebral palsy. This success led to a trip to Hollywood and a string of American films, starting with 1990's romantic drama "White Palace" with James Spader and Susan Sarandon, a remake of George Cukor's "Born Yesterday" with Melanie Griffith in the Judy Holliday role, a gaze into alcoholism with Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia in the relationship drama "When a Man Loves a Woman," and an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks ' romance novel "Message in a Bottle" in 1999. Mandoki directed four more features in the United States before returning to Mexico for 2004's war drama "Innocent Voices." He has turned his attention to political documentary in his homeland with "¿Quien es el Señor López?" and "Fraude: México 2006," about the Mexican presidential election of that year.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1976
Directed first short, "Silent Music"
1982
Directed first feature, "Motel"
1987
Won major world-wide attention for "Gaby - A True Story," the poignant study of a woman he learned about from a television program, a writer coping with cerebral palsy
1990
Directed first American feature, "White Palace," starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader
1994
Directed Meg Ryan in her emotional portrayal of an alcoholic wife and mother in "When a Man Loves a Woman"
1999
Directed "Message in a Bottle," starring Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn and Paul Newman
2005
First Spanish-language film in more than 15 years "Voces inocentes/Innocent Voices" set in El Salvador during the years of civil war in the '80s
Videos
Movie Clip
