Juan Pablo Rebella

"I make films because I'm useless, I can barely do anything, and this is pretty much the only thing I know how to do. Besides the fact that I love it." Juan Pablo Rebella was a Uruguayan filmmaker and one of the most significant figures in Rio de la Plata cinema. He studied audiovisual communication at the Universidad Católica del Uruguay and, after graduating in 1999, began making short films such as Buenos y Santos and Víctor y los elegidos. Along with Pablo Stoll and producer Fernando Epstein, he founded the production company Ctrl Z and, in 2001, released his debut feature film, 25 Watts. The film not only launched the careers of its young directors but also put Uruguayan cinema on the international map. In 2004, the same team released Whisky, with both films receiving multiple awards at the world's most prestigious festivals. In 2006, Rebella took his own life while working on the script for what would have been his third film with Stoll, leaving behind a crucial legacy in regional cinema.