Cuevas, María José

She studied Graphic Design at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA), in Mexico City. Her work combines documentary, experimental video, design and photography. She has collaborated on various projects in the cultural area. Her work has been exhibited in different festivals and art spaces in Mexico and abroad, such as the Chelsea Center for the Arts (ZONEMA) in New York; Festival for Expanded Media (STUTTGARTER FILMWINTER), in Germany; The Video Zone- International Video Arts Biennial (VIDEOZONE) in Israel; and the International Festival of Electronic Arts and Video (TRANSITIO_MX), in Mexico, among others.

In 2005, she presented Eventos Sociales, a short film that was followed by Platónicos Infantiles, Norman Bates Blackmail Details, Fans, Lunch with Daddy, Mal de Amores and Las Sirenas No Existen; in 2006, she presented Some Day My Princes Will Come and Remake, and in 2009 Heal the World and Tributo.

In 2010, the project for her debut film, Bellas de noche, was selected to participate in the Binger Filmlab Documentary Program in Amsterdam, Holland, as well as the Buenos Aires Lab (BAL) at the International Independent Film Festival of Buenos Aires BAFICI, in the Doc Lab of the Guadalajara International Film Festival 2011 (FICG) and in Cabos in Progress 2015 of Los Cabos International Film Festival. Since then, her documentary feature has toured festivals such as Ambulante, Mexico; The Telluride Film Festival, in the United States, and the Toronto International Film Festival, in Canada. It is also part of the Official Selection of the 14th FICM.

Her documentary feature, Bellas de noche, had four nominations for the 2017 Ariel Award in the categories of Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Opera Prima and Best Edition. She was also honored at the Morelia International Film Festival FICM 2016 with the Jury Prize for Best Documentary, the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Directed by a Woman and the Prize of the Press.

She was also awarded the Audience Award at the 2016 Los Cabos International Film Festival, took a Special Mention for Best Opera Prima Documentary at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2017 and received the Best Film of the Year award from the 2016 City Awards and Best Documentary of the Luminus Canacine 2016 Prize. She has also been part of the program of other festivals such as Telluride Film Festival 2016, Toronto Film Festival TIFF 2016, IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2016, Ambulante Documentaries 2016, the International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias 2017 and the International Film Festival of Panama where she won the prize for the Best Documentary.

Bellas de Noche has participated in different programs and workshops such as BINGER FILMLAB 2010 in Amsterdam, Holland, as well as in the BAL (Buenos Aires Lab within the framework of the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival BAFICI 2010), in the Doc Lab of FICG 2011 (Guadalajara International Film Festival) and in Cabos in Progress 2015 (Los Cabos International Film Festival).