Las Américas Film Network

Cristián Leighton
Visit Cristián's website	He began his career in 1988 as assistant director in Channel 13's (TVUC) . Drama Area. From 1990 to 1995 worked as producer in the independent production field for different channels especially in journalistic type programs. In 1995 he started his career as a director with his 16 mm . film documentary ‘The Desert Train', which won the Best Short and Best Soundtrack awards at the Viña del Mar, Chile, 1996 International Film Festival. This film was selected at the Marseille, France, International Festival (Class A Festival). Between 1997 and 2000 Leighton directed a documentary series aired by Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) entitled ‘Los Patiperros' (The Wanderers) which won the following awards: the 1997 “Apes” Prize ( Association of Showbusiness Journalists award to the Best Journalistic-Documentary Series); ‘TV Grama Award' for Best Journalistic Program; the 1997 ‘ La Noche Magazine ' award to TV's Best Cultural Contribution , among other prizes. During the year 2000, through his production firm Surreal, Películas de la Realidad , he produced and directed the documentary trilogy “El Cuerpo de Chile” (Chile's Body) which was aired by the SKY satellite network. In early 2001 he received the “Altazor” Award for Best Director in “Los Patiperros”. By the end of same year he premiered his feature-length documentary, which he also produced and co-directed, entitled “Nema Problema” (No Problem). This documentary won the following awards: “Grand Prix for Best Documentary” during Santiago de Chile's 2001 Fifth Documentary Cinema Festival; “Best Foreign Documentary” in the Independent Cinema Festival, in New York, NY in 2001; “Best Documentary” during the Latin Cinema Festival, in Toronto, Canada in 2002. In March 2002 he presented the “Inmigrantes” (Immigrants) documentary series which he directed and produced for TVN. For his work in this series he was awarded two “Altazor” prizes early in 2003 : “Altazor” Prize for Best TV Direction , and “Altazor” Prize for Best TV Script. Late in 2004 Leighton presented his documentary “El Corredor” (The Runner) which won the “Grand Prix for Best Documentary” at FIDOCS, 2004 and was also selected at various international festivals. During 2004 he directed the series entitled “Apasionados” (The Passionate Ones) aired by Channel 13. For this series he was awarded the 2005 “Altazor” Prize for Best Direction of TV Program, plus the DOCUMENTAMADRID 2005 Prize for Social Values, during the II International Documentary Cinema Festival, held in Madrid, Spain. Recently, the Buenos Aires Independent Cinema Festival paid homage to his audiovisual work to celebrate its contribution to the relationship between cinema and television.

Cristián Leighton

He began his career in 1988 as assistant director in Channel 13's (TVUC) . Drama Area. From 1990 to 1995 worked as producer in the independent production field for different channels especially in journalistic type programs. In 1995 he started his career as a director with his 16 mm . film documentary ‘The Desert Train', which won the Best Short and Best Soundtrack awards at the Viña del Mar, Chile, 1996 International Film Festival. This film was selected at the Marseille, France, International Festival (Class A Festival). Between 1997 and 2000 Leighton directed a documentary series aired by Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) entitled ‘Los Patiperros' (The Wanderers) which won the following awards: the 1997 “Apes” Prize ( Association of Showbusiness Journalists award to the Best Journalistic-Documentary Series); ‘TV Grama Award' for Best Journalistic Program; the 1997 ‘ La Noche Magazine ' award to TV's Best Cultural Contribution , among other prizes.

During the year 2000, through his production firm Surreal, Películas de la Realidad , he produced and directed the documentary trilogy “El Cuerpo de Chile” (Chile's Body) which was aired by the SKY satellite network. In early 2001 he received the “Altazor” Award for Best Director in “Los Patiperros”. By the end of same year he premiered his feature-length documentary, which he also produced and co-directed, entitled “Nema Problema” (No Problem). This documentary won the following awards: “Grand Prix for Best Documentary” during Santiago de Chile's 2001 Fifth Documentary Cinema Festival; “Best Foreign Documentary” in the Independent Cinema Festival, in New York, NY in 2001; “Best Documentary” during the Latin Cinema Festival, in Toronto, Canada in 2002.

In March 2002 he presented the “Inmigrantes” (Immigrants) documentary series which he directed and produced for TVN. For his work in this series he was awarded two “Altazor” prizes early in 2003 : “Altazor” Prize for Best TV Direction , and “Altazor” Prize for Best TV Script. Late in 2004 Leighton presented his documentary “El Corredor” (The Runner) which won the “Grand Prix for Best Documentary” at FIDOCS, 2004 and was also selected at various international festivals.

During 2004 he directed the series entitled “Apasionados” (The Passionate Ones) aired by Channel 13. For this series he was awarded the 2005 “Altazor” Prize for Best Direction of TV Program, plus the DOCUMENTAMADRID 2005 Prize for Social Values, during the II International Documentary Cinema Festival, held in Madrid, Spain. Recently, the Buenos Aires Independent Cinema Festival paid homage to his audiovisual work to celebrate its contribution to the relationship between cinema and television.

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