Víctor Gaviria
Víctor Manuel Gaviria González (born January 19, 1955, in Liborina, Antioquia, Colombia) is a film director, writer, and poet. His four feature-length films are highly acclaimed and have won many international awards. He is the first Colombian filmmaker to be featured at the Cannes Film Festival in France. He is often recognized as the most influential and well-known filmmaker to come out of Colombia, often being considered an exception to Colombian Cinema. Life. Born in the town of Liborina and raised in Medellin, Colombia, he was the sixth of 8 siblings. He grew up during the  beginning of the Colombian conflict; an ongoing civil war between the Colombian government and extremist groups, including drug cartels, which led to immense violence and unrest throughout Medellin. He attended the University of Antioquia in Colombia and received a degree in psychology. While there, Gaviria gained an interest in poetry and wrote a total of seven poetry books that won several awards. He studied psychology at Antioquia's University, but he soon quit to pursue his film-making career. He joined several art collectives and met the catholic priest Luis Alberto Álvarez, who would be a close friend and an  important figure in his development as a director. He's known for his raw style to portrait social issues and exclusion. He has developed a method that has deeply influenced Colombian and Latinamerican cinema; the use of natural actors, meaning persons with no acting formation but who are natural storytellers and are actively involved in the development of the film.