Trivia

He was born in Puerto Montt, Chile, and raised in Valparaíso, Chile, where his father was a merchant marine whom he sailed with on his summer vacations around the world.

Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (for Creative Arts-Film) in 1983.

Retrospectives of his work have been held in Paris (1983), Alcalá de Henares (1983), New York (1989), Melbourne (1993), Mannheim-Heidelberg (2003), Rotterdam (2004), Buenos Aires (2004), Geneva (2005), Rome (2007), Valdivia (2008), Buenos Aires (2009), Santiago de Chile (2011), Valparaíso (2015) and Paris (March-May 2016). Following his death, tributes were paid to Ruiz in festivals in Rotterdam (January 2012), Toulouse (March 2012), New York (May 2012), Paris (July 2012), Lima (August 2012) and Santiago de Chile (August 2012).

Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 55th Cannes International Film Festival in 2002.

Became co-director of the Maison de la Culture in Le Havre (August 1985).

Awarded the title of Docteur Honoris Causa by the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (2005), Professorship by the University of Aberdeen (2007) and Doctor Honoris Causa by the Universidad de Valparaíso (2011).

Received several honours in his native Chile, including the National Prize of Arts of the Representation and Audiovisual (1997) and the Art Critics Circle's Bicentennial Award for cinema (2010), sharing the latter with Valeria Sarmiento.

He studied law and theology at the University of Chile before spending a year at Fernando Birri's film school in Santa Fe, Argentina. He worked as an editor on Chilean TV news and as a writer for a Mexican soap opera produced by Televisa. He was employed by Chile Films, a state film agency.

He and his wife left Chile in 1973 after Allende's overthrown government for Paris, France where he remained for the rest of his life.

He was appointed director of the House of Culture in Le Havre, France by Jack Lang, the French cultural minister.

Lisbon, Portugal: Recuperating after undergoing life-saving surgery for liver cancer (and breaking one of his legs). (July 2010)

Spain: Presenting Mysteries of Lisbon (2011) at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. (September 2010)

Aberdeen, Scotland: Teaching film at the University of Aberdeen. (December 2008)

Paris, France: Participating in "Une semaine avec Raoul Ruiz et ses invités" France Culture radio programmes (guests included Catherine Deneuve and Pascal Bonitzer). (May 2011)

Santiago, Chile: Directing his stage play "Amledi, el tonto" for the Santiago a Mil International Theatre Festival. (December 2010)

Chile: Shooting Night Across the Street (2012). (March 2011)

Portugal: Shooting Mysteries of Lisbon (2011). (November 2009)

Valparaíso, Chile: Receiving Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Valparaíso. (March 2011)