Patricia Cardoso


Patricia Cardoso is a Colombian-American director, writer, and producer, who has directed a wide range of acclaimed films and episodes for the screen. She was the first Latinx woman to receive a Sundance Audience Award and a Student Academy Award®. Cardoso's feature film Real Women Have Curves was a box office and critical success and has become a landmark of Latinx cinema.
Cardoso is a graduate of UCLA's film school and a Fulbright Scholar. She studied anthropology at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá.
In 2017, Cardoso was invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Directors Branch.
In 2018, Ava DuVernay tapped her to direct an episode of her acclaimed television series Queen Sugar.
In 2019, Real Women Have Curves was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry "as a cinematic treasure and worthy of preservation as part of America’s patrimony".

Early life

As a child Cardoso wrote and illustrated home-made picture-books. Only when she became a film student at UCLA she realized these books were story boards. Cardoso's first film was a humorous documentary titled Vacas Flacas y Vacas Gordas about the famine and feast periods her family endured. Due to the lack of technology in her household the film was made with toothpicks, paper, and cardboard.

Career

At UCLA film school she was at the top of her class earning all major directing awards at the school: the Colin Higgins Foundation Award in Film, the Lynn Weston Fellowship in Film, and the Verna Fields Award.
Cardoso’s directing credits include episodes of The Society, All Rise, and Tales of the City and the featureTeresa —the largest box office for a woman director in Colombia.
Cardoso was the first Latinx woman to win a Sundance Film Festival Dramatic Audience Award and to receive a Student Academy Award.
Cardoso attributes her anthropological background to the respect she has for every character in her films, the depth and dimension of her character development, and for the rigorous research she does during pre-production to create reality and truthfulness in her movies.
Cardoso's Real Women Have Curves broke many conventions of traditional Hollywood filmmaking and became a landmark in American independent film. According to Entertainment Weekly, it is "one of the most influential movies of the 2000s," and cast "a wide shadow over the new generation of filmmakers to come." The movie is cited for showing "the impact a movie could have in the culture," and it is acclaimed for its nuanced portrayal of its characters and of Los Angeles.

Filmography

El Regalo

Written and produced by Dago García and directed by Cardoso, the film stars Cesar Mora, Ella Becerra, Javier Ramirez and Margalida Castro.

The Toymaker

Directed and produced by Cardoso the documentary film is about Horst Damme, a blind German toymaker, who has lived in Bogotá since 1936 when he arrived with his family as refugees from Nazi-Germany.

La Clave

Directed by Cardoso and written by Josefina Lopez the short film tells the story of a family faced with the mental illness of their daughter. The film stars Mariana Montes, Luis Enrique, and Ivette Gonzales. The film won the First Place Drama Short for the United Latino Film Festival, a Gold CINDY Award, a Robert Townsend Social Issues Award and Merit Special Mention at The Best Shorts Competition.

Meddling Mom

Directed by Cardoso, written by Nina Weiman and produced by Frank Konigsberg and Patricia Clifford, Meddling Mom was the first Latino film ever made by Hallmark Channel. The film stars Sonia Braga, as Carmen Vera, a ceramics art dealer and meddling mother pursued by a charming dance professor played by Tony Plana. The film was nominated to an IMAGEN Award for Sonia Braga's strong performance.
Carmen Vega is guilty of being a meddling mom. Her crimes include slipping into daughter Yolanda's home to leave behind "how-to" books on starting a family and manipulating daughter Ally into a doomed relationship with her best friend Marisol's son Pablo. Now Carmen Vega, notorious mother of good intentions, is about to get a crash course in butting out and maybe she'll even find a romantic life of her own.
The film was shot on location at Jose Vera's Fine Arts and Antiques wonderful store in Eagle Rock.

Ro

Cardoso directed a six-episode web series for YouTube channel WIGS. Ro, a young woman in parole, played by Melonie Diaz, goes to a speed dating bar trying to rebuild his life after prison. The series was produced by Rodrigo García, John Avnet and Jake Avnet.
The series is written by talented Mattie Brickman and stars along Diaz William Mapother, Jonathan Tucker and Christopher Carley.

Lies in Plain Sight

Cardoso directed the remake of the Israeli movie . Written by Teena Booth based on Noa Greenberg's script the film stars Rosie Perez, Martha Higadera, Chad Michael Murray and Benito Martinez. It was produced by Frank Konigsberg and Yan Fisher-Romanovsky for Sony Television and Lifetime.
The story of Eva and her blind cousin Sofia, who were inseparable as children, with Eva the loyal companion who helped Sofia through her tough adolescent years. When Eva suddenly commits suicide, Sofia rushes home to her father, Hector, and Eva's parents, Marisol and Rafael, to find answers. But the more she delves into Eva's life, questioning her past boyfriend's Ethan and Christian, the more Sofia realizes that their childhood was actually filled with dark, disturbing secrets.
The film received a NAMIC Vision Award, an IMAGEN Award for Martha Higadera's performance and was selected as Lifetime Movie of the Year in 2011. It was nominated to an NAACP Image Award for Rosie Perez's performance.

Awards

YearAwardFestivalNominated workResult
1990Premio Mesquite Best First WorkSan Antonio CineFestivalThe Air Globes
1990Premio Mesquite Best Short FilmSan Antonio CineFestivalThe Air Globes
1990Primer PremioConcurso Nacional de CortometrajesThe Air Globes
1990Premio Especial del Jurado Hernando Salcedo SilvaConcurso Nacional de CortometrajesThe Air Globes
1996Festival PrizeBlack Maria Film and Video FestivalThe Water Carrier
1996Crystal Heart AwardHeartland Film FestivalThe Water Carrier
1996DGA Student Film AwardStudent Academy AwardsThe Water Carrier
1996Gold MedalStudent Academy AwardsThe Water Carrier
1996Grand PrizeAngelus Student Film FestivalThe Water Carrier
1996Golden Eagle AwardCINEThe Water Carrier
1996Premio Mesquite Best NarrativeSan Antonio CineFestivalThe Water Carrier
1996UNESCO Igualada Institut Català AwardUNESCOThe Water Carrier
1996MacArthur Foundation Subtitling GrantToronto International Film FestivalThe Water Carrier
1996Ida Lupino Student AwardDirectors Guild of AmericaThe Water Carrier
1996Harry Kurnitz Creative Writing CompetitionDashew Center - UCLAThe Water Carrier
1996Golden Reel AwardMotion Picture Sound EditorsThe Water Carrier
2002Audience AwardSundance Film FestivalReal Women Have Curves
2002Grand Jury PrizeSundance Film FestivalReal Women Have Curves
2002Premio Eroski de la Juventud Festival de Cine de San SebastiánReal Women Have Curves
2002Humanitas Prize Sundance Feature FilmHumanitas PrizeReal Women Have Curves
2002Excellence in FilmmakingNational Board of ReviewReal Women Have Curves
2002Silver Plate Audience Choice AwardChicago International Film FestivalReal Women Have Curves
2002Excellence in Film Latino Spirit AwardCalifornia State LegislatureReal Women Have Curves
2002Planned Parenthood AwardPlanned ParenthoodReal Women Have Curves
2002California Governor's CommendationGovernor of CaliforniaReal Women Have Curves
2011Best Creative Media FilmPoppy Jasper Film FestivalDeep Blue Breath
2011Best Young Actor for Clay BeaboutAction on Film International Film FestivalDeep Blue Breath
2011Best Short FilmTampa Independent's Film FestivalDeep Blue Breath
2011NAMIC Vision AwardNAMIC Vision AwardLies in Plain Sight
2011Best Actor for Martha HigaderaImagen AwardsLies in Plain Sight
2011Movie of the YearLifetime Lies in Plain Sight
2011Best Actor for Rosie PerezNAACP Image AwardsLies in Plain Sight
2013Best Actor for Sonia BragaImagen AwardsMeddling Mom
2015First Place Drama ShortUnited Latino Film FestivalLa Clave
2015Gold CINDY AwardCINDY AwardsLa Clave
2015CINDY Social Issues AwardCINDY AwardsLa Clave
2015Award of Merit Special MentionThe Best Shorts CompetitionLa Clave

Cardoso received: