Biography

A Fulbright Scholar, Douglas-Pedro Sanchez is a film director/screenwriter born in Santurce, Puerto Rico.

His 3rd feature, "La última gira" (The Last Tour), is liberally inspired by certain incidents in the life of Tropical Music idol Daniel Santos, was theatrically released in Puerto Rico on September 2, 2021, had a 10-week run and has won 13 Awards in 14 Festivals, including Best Feature at the New York Latino Film Festival (NYLFF), London's Screen Power Film Festival, Nunes International Film Festival in Barcelona, and the DaVinci International Film Festival in Los Angeles.

The previous "Sol de medianoche" (Midnight Sun) won the Best Feature Award at the 2019 Ferrara Film Festival in Italy, the Best Female and Best Male Actor Awards at the New York Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, and was acquired, broadcast and streamed by HBO.

A first feature, "Cualquier cosa" (Any Given Thing), won a Special Achievement Award from the Mexican Academy.

Douglas' Comparative Literature thesis at Brown dealt with Borges' "The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero", Bertolucci's adaptation, "The Spider's Stratagem", and the themes of the politics of spectacle and the spectacle of politics. Filmmaking studies at RISD and NYU led to a Fulbright Scholarship year of research at the Mexican Cinematheque. Post-graduate studies in Latin American Literature at UNAM were followed by filmmaking at CUEC/UNAM, and work in 14 films as director, writer, editor, producer, cinematographer, sound recorder and actor.

"Cualquier cosa" (Any Given Thing) was lavishly praised by all Mexico City's major critics: "an exercise in unhinged imagination", "a masterpiece of the signifying game" and "a totally outstanding film" (Jorge Ayala-Blanco); "a totally audacious, intelligent film that reveals great aesthetic coherence and control over the film medium" (Tomas Perez-Turrent); "the most vital Mexican film in decades" and "the second classic of Mexican independent cinema" (Gustavo Garcia). The film had a sold-out run at the Mexican Cinematheque, was featured at Pompidou Museum and Madrid Cinematheque Mexican Film Series, and was recognized with a Special Achievement Award by the Mexican Academy. There followed writing and directing 28 documentaries for television on the National Polytechnic Institute activities, and work with Arturo Ripstein, Gabriel Retes, and other New Mexican Cinema directors on 44 educational TV series episodes filmed at Churubusco Studios.

Back in Santurce, work in advertising and public relations was followed by a Juris Doctor degree and private law practice until resuming filmmaking with "Sol de medianoche" and "La ultima gira".
- IMDb mini biography by: Douglas-Pedro Sanchez