Felipe Degregori

Biography

Felipe Degregori studied film in Moscow in the 1970s. Upon returning to Peru, he directed several short films before making his feature film debut with "Abisa a los compañeros" (Warn the Comrades), his first feature film, shot in 1979 and released in January 1980. The film was an adaptation of the book "Abisa a los compañeros, pronto" (Warn the Comrades Soon) by Guillermo Thorndike, who also wrote the screenplay. Both the book and the film recreate a true event that occurred in 1963, when a group of Trotskyist militants planned and carried out a bank robbery in Miraflores to finance their political activities. The film was a great success with audiences upon its release and sparked considerable controversy in the press at the time. With "Todos somos estrellas" (We Are All Stars) (1993), Degregori attempted to offer a humorous take on the manipulation exerted by the media in the daily lives of Peruvian families, and on the desperate situation of families drawn into a spectacle where everyone seems to be winning. The film was awarded the Pre-Columbian Golden Circle for Best Film at the 10th Bogotá Film Festival and received a FIPRESCI Special Mention at the 15th Havana Film Festival. After more than twenty years behind the camera, Degregori began a new phase in his film career in 2004, founding a production company that collaborates with non-governmental organizations and state institutions to produce socially conscious audiovisual works. Through this initiative, Degregori undertook a series of small documentary productions. Since 2008, Luis Felipe Degregori has expressed optimism about the current state of Peruvian cinema, which, in his opinion, has improved significantly since the new leadership took over the National Film Council. In 2009, the filmmaker worked on the feature film "Rosas de acero" (Roses of Steel), about the discrimination faced by the transgender population in Peru and Latin America. He directed No hoy lugar más diverso (2012).