Isaac Ezban

Last updated

Isaac Ezban
Isaac Ezban 2.jpg
Born (1986-04-15) 15 April 1986 (age 37)
Occupation(s)Director, writer and producer
Years active2007–present
SpouseMiriam Mercado (2012–present)
Children2

Isaac Ezban (born 15 April 1986) is a Mexican film director, writer and producer. [1] He is best known for his work on the films The Incident , The Similars and Parallel . [2]

Contents

Life and career

Ezban was born and raised in Mexico City, in a Jewish family. He studied communication with a major in film at the Universidad Iberoamericana, drama in London at The Method Studio and filmmaking in New York at the New York Film Academy. He wrote four short novels before working in the film industry. [3]

Ezban's first feature film, The Incident , starring Raúl Méndez, Nailea Norvind, Hernan Mendoza, Humberto Busto and Fernando Alvarez Rebeil, was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Blood Window Midnight Galas. [4] It won the award for Best Original Screenplay at the Expresión en Corto International Film Festival, [5] the Mexico Primero Award at Los Cabos International Film Festival and 16 other awards, and was praised by Guillermo del Toro. [6] His second feature film, The Similars , starting Gustavo Sánchez Parra, was premiered at Fantastic Fest and the Sitges Film Festival. [7] It also won the award for Best Latin American Film in Sitges and the press award in Morbido. [8]

In 2016, Ezban was hired by Bron Studios to direct his third feature film and first English language film, Parallel, starring Aml Ameen, Martin Wallström, Georgia King, Mark O'Brien, Alyssa Diaz and Kathleen Quinlan. [9] He is scheduled[ when? ] to direct an upcoming[ when? ] feature film based on the Dan Simmons novel, Summer Of Night for Sony Pictures. [10] Ezban is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency [11] and Good Fear Management.[ citation needed ]

Filmography

YearFilm Writer Director Producer Notes
2007Subway to HellGreen check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2008CookieGreen check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2008Kosher SpaghettiGreen check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2009El judío que todos llevamos dentroGreen check.svgGreen check.svgRed x.svgShort film
2009El secreto de Martín CordianiGreen check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2009HambreGreen check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2010Cosas feasGreen check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2011Ocean BluesRed x.svgRed x.svgGreen check.svgFeature film
2012MuteRed x.svgRed x.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2013Heaven & HellRed x.svgRed x.svgGreen check.svgShort film
2013In Search of DylanRed x.svgRed x.svgGreen check.svgDocumentary
2014 The Incident Green check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgFeature film
2014Barbarous MexicoGreen check.svgGreen check.svgRed x.svgFeature film
2015PresagioRed x.svgRed x.svgGreen check.svgFeature film
2015 The Similars Green check.svgGreen check.svgGreen check.svgFeature film
2018 Parallel Red x.svgGreen check.svgRed x.svgFeature film

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandro González Iñárritu</span> Mexican filmmaker

Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican filmmaker. He is primarily known for making modern psychological drama films about the human condition. His projects have garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades including four Academy Awards with a Special Achievement Award, three Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Directors Guild of America Awards. His most notable films include Amores perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003), Babel (2006), Biutiful (2010), Birdman (2014), The Revenant (2015), and Bardo (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guillermo del Toro</span> Mexican filmmaker and author (born 1964)

Guillermo del Toro Gómez is a Mexican filmmaker. A recipient of three Academy Awards and three BAFTA Awards, his work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales and horror, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the grotesque. He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power. He is also known for his use of insectile and religious imagery, his themes of Catholicism, anti-fascism, and celebrating imperfection, underworld motifs, practical special effects, and dominant amber lighting.

<i>Pans Labyrinth</i> 2006 film by Guillermo del Toro

Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 dark fantasy film written, directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro. The film stars Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, and Ariadna Gil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Fessenden</span> American actor and filmmaker

Laurence T. Fessenden is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits include No Telling, Habit (1997), Wendigo (2001), and The Last Winter, which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He has also directed the television feature Beneath (2013), an episode of the NBC TV series Fear Itself (2008) entitled "Skin and Bones", and a segment of the anthology horror-comedy film The ABCs of Death 2 (2014). He is the writer, with Graham Reznick, of the BAFTA Award-winning Sony PlayStation video game Until Dawn. He has acted in numerous films including Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Broken Flowers (2005), I Sell the Dead (2009), Jug Face (2012), We Are Still Here (2015), In a Valley of Violence (2016), Like Me (2017), and The Dead Don't Die (2019), Brooklyn 45 (2023), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Méliès International Festivals Federation</span> Film festival federation

Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), formerly European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation (EFFFF), established in 1987, is a network of 22 genre film festivals from 16 countries based Brussels, Belgium, and dedicated to promoting and supporting European cinema, particularly films in the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Critics' Week</span> Parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival

Critics' Week, until 2008 called International Critics' Week, is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created in 1962, after the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics's successful campaign for Shirley Clarke's The Connection to be screened at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. It is the oldest non-official Cannes sidebar.

<i>Rubber</i> (2010 film) 2010 horror film by Quentin Dupieux

Rubber is a 2010 English-language French independent horror comedy film written and directed by Quentin Dupieux. The film is about a tire that comes to life and kills people with psychokinetic powers.

<i>We Are What We Are</i> (2010 film) 2010 film by Jorge Michel Grau

We Are What We Are is a 2010 Mexican horror film directed by Jorge Michel Grau. A stand-alone sequel to Cronos (1993), the film is about a family who, after the death of the father, try to continue on with a disturbing, ritualistic tradition. The film stars Paulina Gaitán and Daniel Giménez Cacho, the latter of whom reprises his role from Cronos.

Víctor Garcia is a Spanish film director best known for his award-winning short film El ciclo and the 2007 American horror film Return to House on Haunted Hill.

Patricio Valladares is a Chilean film director, screenwriter and comic book writer, best known for his work in horror films, who mixes elements of both arthouse and grindhouse, with an emphasis on modern extreme violence, action and some gore. He is also involved in comics and short movies, and frequently injects black humor or homages to grindhouse movies, along with artistic cinematography, somewhat intellectual dialogue and the occasional surrealism. His serial killers tend to make repeat appearances in his movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Issa López</span> Mexican filmmaker

Issa López is a Mexican director, writer and producer. Eleven Spanish language features have been produced from her scripts, four of them directed by herself. She has won several literary awards, including the National Novel Award granted by Mexico's Institute of Fine Arts and Literature in 2007.

<i>Sicario</i> (2015 film) Action thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve

Sicario is a 2015 American action thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve, written by Taylor Sheridan and starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin. The film follows a principled FBI special agent who is enlisted by a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal Mexican drug cartel. Sicario was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It began a limited release in the United States on September 18, 2015, followed by a nationwide release on October 2, 2015.

<i>The Shape of Water</i> 2017 Mexican-American romantic dark fantasy film by Guillermo del Toro

The Shape of Water is a 2017 Mexican-American romantic dark fantasy film directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows a mute custodian at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature, and decides to help him escape from death at the hands of an evil colonel. Filming took place on location in Ontario, Canada, from August to November 2016.

Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival is an international film festival in Buffalo, New York.

México Bárbaro is a 2014 Mexican anthology horror film composed of eight shorts, each by a different Mexican horror film director. It premiered at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival on October 8, 2014. In 2015, it was released on DVD and VOD in the U.S. and in 2016 on Netflix around the world. The film was sold to six countries during the Le Marché du Film at Festival de Cannes 2015, including MPI/Dark Sky Films. The film is part of the new Cine de Terror Mexicano movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gigi Saul Guerrero</span> Mexican filmmaker (born 1990)

Gigi Saul Guerrero is a Mexican filmmaker and actress. She gained recognition for creating and directing the 2017 horror web series, La Quinceañera. In 2019, she directed episodes of The Purge and the anthology horror series, Into the Dark.

Piano is an independent film production and distribution company based in Mexico City, started in 2011 by Julio Chavezmontes and Sebastián Hofmann as a platform for innovative filmmakers. It specializes in film production, finance, distribution, and international coproductions.

<i>The Similars</i> 2015 Mexican film

The Similars is a 2015 Mexican supernatural thriller film written and directed by Isaac Ezban. It stars Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Fernando Becerril, Humberto Busto, Carmen Beato, Santiago Torres, and María Elena Olivares as people who are trapped by a hurricane at a bus station around the time of the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968. As the passengers wait for a bus to arrive, they are horrified to find that everyone's face is slowly transforming. The Similars premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2015. It was released in Mexico in October 2016.

<i>Rabid</i> (2019 film) 2019 Canadian film

Rabid is a 2019 Canadian body horror film directed and co-written by Jen and Sylvia Soska and starring Laura Vandervoort, Ben Hollingsworth, and Phil Brooks. It is a remake of the 1977 film of the same name directed by David Cronenberg.

<i>Terrified</i> (film) 2018 Argentine horror film

Terrified is a 2017 Argentine horror film written and directed by Demián Rugna, concerning a series of supernatural events in a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

References

  1. M. Faust (4 November 2015). "Interview: Mexican genre filmmaker Isaac Ezban". The Public. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
    - Marianne Zumberge (4 December 2014). "Mexico's Isaac Ezban Talks Social Sci-Fi, Lovecraft, 'The Twilight Zone,' 'The Similars'". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
    - "Q&A WITH ISAAC EZBAN, WRITER/DIRECTOR OF THE INCIDENT". Cult Projections. 7 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  2. Eric Ortiz Garciam (26 May 2014). "Cannes 2014 Review: THE INCIDENT (EL INCIDENTE) Is One Of The Most Intriguing Mexican Films Of The Year". Screen Anarchy. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
    - Luke Ryan Baldock (27 August 2016). "Frightfest 2016: 'The Similars' Review". The Hollywood News. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
    - Chris Aitkens (29 July 2018). "[FANTASIA REVIEW] PARALLEL EXPOSES THE DANGERS OF EXPLORING ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS". Nightmare on Film Street. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  3. "INTO THE WORLDS OF ISAAC EZBAN". Cassidy Alexa. 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
    - Bub Smith (15 November 2016). "INTERVIEW: DIRECTOR OF THE SIMILARS, ISAAC EZBAN". Slackjaw Punks. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  4. John Hopewell (28 April 2014). "Blood Window Bows Genre Pic Midnight Galas at Cannes". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  5. "Ganadores Winner 2013" (in Spanish). GIFF. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  6. Ulises Castañeda (26 March 2018). "Isaac Ezban, tras los pasos de Guillermo del Toro" [Isaac Ezban, in the footsteps of Guillermo del Toro]. Cronica (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  7. "LOS PARECIDOS". Sitges Film Festival. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
    - "THE SIMILARS". Fantastic Fest. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
    - PR monster (18 August 2016). "THE SIMILARS at FrightFest 2016". Love Horror. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  8. "SITGES' MARK SEEN IN MEXICO". Sitges Film Festival. 20 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  9. J Hurtado (24 July 2018). "Fantasia 2018 Review: PARALLEL Examines The Ethics Of The Multiverse". Screen Anarchy. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  10. Mike Fleming Jr (18 September 2017). "Sony Pictures Worldwide Lands Package Based On Dan Simmons 'Summer Of Night' Fright Novel". Deadline. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  11. John Hopewell (23 March 2015). "Paradigm Signs "The Incident's' Isaac Ezban". Variety. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2019.