Federico León

Federico León was born in Buenos Aires in 1975.

He is an author, theatre director, film-maker and actor.

For the theatre he has written and produced Cachetazo de Campo, Museo Miguel Angel Boezzio, Mil quinientos metros sobre el nivel de Jack, El Adolescente and Yo en el futuro.

Las Multitudes, his last play, produced in July 2012 in Buenos Aires with 120 actors on stage, was performed in the Berliner Festspiele in September 2012, as part of the Foreign Affairs Festival.

In 2001, he wrote and directed his first film, Todo Juntos, in which he also plays one of the parts. This full-length feature-film was selected for inclusion in the film festivals of Locarno, London, Havana, Toulouse and in the International Festival of Buenos Aires.

Estrellas, his second film, was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 9th Festival of Independent Cinema of  Buenos Aires. It was one of the strong moments of the Brussels Kunstenfestivaldesarts 06, and was shown in the festivals of Locarno, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Havana, Thessalonica, and Leipzig, among others.

He wrote and directed his latest film, Entretenamiento elemental para actores, in 2008, in collaboration with Martín Rejtman, the cutting-edge filmmaker of the new Argentinian cinema. This is a sort of filmed essay, edifying and hilarious, engaging with issues around Education, the processes of transmission between the generations, and intergenerational conflicts – all themes dear to Federico Léon.

Federico León has won a number of prizes including the First Prize for Dramatic Writing from the Argentine National Theatre Institute, the 2004 Konex Prize from the National Art Foundation, and the National First Prize for Dramatic Writing 1996-99 from the Argentine government.

In 2002 he was selected from among many artists from all around the world to participate in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. In that context, he worked together with Robert Wilson for a year.

His plays and the film scenario for Todo Juntos, as well as his theatre-reviews, interviews, and essays on the creation process of his works, were published in the book Registros – Teatro reunido y otros textos (Adriana Hidalgo Editions). This book has been translated into English.

His plays have been performed in theatres and festivals in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Scotland, Canada, Belgium, Spain, the United States, Brazil and Australia.

Federico León also takes part, as a presenter, in international seminars devoted to art and the theatre. For example, in 2010, he was there beside film director Martín Rejtman, in the Programa de Artistas de la Universidad di Tella.