Luis Sampieri

Born in Tucumán, Argentina, he studied artistic and technical photography at the Universidad Nacional de Artes de Tucumán (1990-92). He has exhibited his photographs in several national and international exhibitions. In 1992, he moved to Buenos Aires and studied cinema, including script-writing, directing, production, and actor directing. Among these studies are courses during 6 years with José Martínez Suárez, a prestigious Argentine professor, as well as director and screenwriter. Luis has also participated in acting courses presented by Anna Strasberg, on acting techniques based on the Actor's Studio method. He also participated in master classes with scriptwriters and authors, including Jean Claude Carriére, Osvaldo Bayer, and Eduardo Leiva Muller, with whom he co-wrote two scripts for feature length films. In 1994-95 he directed and produced the 16-mm medium-length film "The Smoke Machine" (La Maquina del Humo) that participates in international festivals, including Cinema Jové Valencia, Sao Paulo, and La Alternativa 96 Barcelona. In 1998 he co-directed the documentary "Irene", produced by DFFB in Berlin. Between 1998-2011, he directed commercials, videos, and documentaries. In 2000 he directed and produced his first 35-mm feature film "Cabecita Rubia", which received the best actor award to Eusebio Poncela at the LaCinemafe New York film festival. The film also obtained three nominations at the Cóndor de Plata awards in Argentina (Best actor, Best Actress, Best Music) and participated in the official selection in several international film festivals, including Rotterdam, La Habana, LaCinemaFe New York, Hamburg, Milan, Rio, Sao Paulo, and Bratislava. In 2002, he received a project development and script development grant from the Hubert Bals Fund provided by the Rotterdam International Film Festival for his script PAITITÍ. In 2004, he was assistant director and director's assistant in the full-length feature documentary "Cantando Bajo La Tierra" (Singing Underground), directed by Rolando Pardo, and produced by Pentagrama Films, in Spain. In 2006 he directed the documentary "With you" (Te Acompañamos), produced by Fantino Adrenaline Films in Spain. The documentary was release at the Verdi Cinemas in Barcelona. In 2010 he directed and produced his second feature-length film "END" (FIN), which received very good reviews and was produced by Cierzo Films Barcelona. END (FIN) participated in the Official Selection in the Forum section of the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. The film also participated as official selection of the following film festivals: Marrakech International Film Festival, Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Sitges International Film Festival, Malaga Film Festival, Granada International Film Festival, and Zaragoza International Film Festival, among others. It was also one of the films selected from the Berlinale Forum by the Goethe Institute for special screening in Paris, France. The film received Best Director Award at the Malaga Film Festival, Zonazine section. Participated in the 2010 "Age D'or", selected by the Brussels Cinematheque as one of the 20 films of the year to discover. Edited in DVD for the collection "Cahiers du Cinema", Spain, as one of the best films in 2010.