Biography

Gregory Nava is an Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy nominated American writer, director and producer. An acclaimed filmmaker, his cinema has captured the American Latino experience and is considered to be one of the most influential and important Latin filmmakers today. Three of his films (El Norte (1983), Selena (1997), My Family (1995)) have been selected by the U.S. Library of Congress National Registry for Culturally Significant "American Classics."

His debut feature film El Norte (1983) received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and was an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. Critic Roger Ebert lauded El Norte as a milestone in American Independent cinema, with 4 stars and famously called it the "Grapes of Wrath" of our time.

His sophomore film was the WWII historical drama Time of Destiny starring Oscar winners William Hurt, Melissa Leo and Timothy Hutton, followed by the Academy Award nominated My Family a multigenerational, autobiographical saga which marked the screen debut of Jennifer Lopez. The film was honored with a Presidential Premiere in Washington D.C. from President Bill Clinton. Nava went on to write and direct the musical biopic Selena based on the life of the slain Tejano singer. The film featured Jennifer Lopez in a star turning role which won her a Golden Globe nomination. Today Selena is still one of the most watched and beloved musical biopics and was selected by Warner Brothers on their Centennial Anniversary as one of the 100 most important films in their history.

Nava then directed the award-winning musical, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, portraying 50's teen sensation Frankie Lymon which starred Halle Berry. Nava served as a screenwriter on the Oscar nominated film, Frida, starring Salma Hayek which went on to receive six Academy Award nominations.

Nava continued his collaboration with Jennifer Lopez and wrote and directed the political thriller Bordertown which exposed the femicide of 400 women in Juarez, Mexico. It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and received the "Artist for Amnesty" award from Amnesty International.

In television, Nava has been nominated for both the Emmy and Golden Globe for "Best Limited Series" as the Creator and Executive Producer of American Family, the first dramatic Latino family series in the history of U.S. broadcast television. The award winning and critically acclaimed series aired for three seasons and boasted an all-star cast including Academy Award winner Rita Moreno and Oscar nominees America Ferrera, Edward James Olmos, Demián Bichir, as well as Michael Peña, Jay Hernandez and the legendary Raquel Welch.

As a pioneer of the independent film movement, Nava founded Film Independent in 1981 with a group of filmmakers, writers and producers to support independent non-studio films.

He has served as a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was the first head of the Academy's historic A 2020 initiative. Nava has also dedicated himself to preserving film history and serves on the Inclusion Committee of the Academy Museum and the board of Indie Collect. He has been a programmer for the Telluride Film Festival since 2014. He is an avid fan of all the arts and sits on the board of the Los Angeles Opera.

Nava has received lifetime achievement awards from the Hispanic Heritage Awards at the Kennedy Center, the Alma Awards, the Imagen Foundation and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers.

Through his company, El Norte Productions, Nava continues to develop films and television projects. Nava is writing and directing a dramatic feature film about the iconic civil rights and labor leader Dolores Huerta.
- IMDb mini biography by: aem la

He has directed three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: El Norte (1983), My Family (1995) and Selena (1997).

I was raised on the border, and from childhood, I've seen the poverty and starving faces of people trying to cross into the United States seeking a better life. It was from those childhood memories that my films El Norte, My Family, Bordertown and all my cinema was born.

As a young filmmaker I was inspired by civil rights icon Dolores Huerta and her rallying cry of '¡Si Se Puede¡ Yes we can!' and to, in her words, 'Get off the sidewalk and get into the street and make a difference!' I am deeply honored that she has given me and my partner Barbara Martinez Jitner her life rights to bring her story to the screen in an epic, dramatic film.

I want to tell our Latino stories in our unique way. Latinos have our own tradition of storytelling. That is the "dream realist" style that can be seen in the literature of writers like Gabriel García Márquez. This unique style is what I bring to my cinema.

My filmmaking is all about bringing the walls - the borders -down that exists between people.