Writer and filmmaker Kyzza Terrazas was born to Mexican parents in Nairobi, and has lived in Mexico for most of his life. He holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the UNAM and an MFA in film from Columbia University, where he graduated with Matapájaros, a short film shot in NYC with Mexican immigrants. He has published two books of short stories: El primer ojo (1997) and Cumbia y desaparecer (2010). He worked as head of development for Canana Films and has executive-produced several features, including Drama/Mex, Cochochi, Voy-a-explotar, She Doesn’t Want to Sleep Alone, and The Eternal Feminine.
From 2010 to 2011, he was head of the Memory Archive at Cineteca Nacional, a collection of orphan, amateur, and family films. As part of this project, he made Carta al ingeniero, a short film made with footage from his grandfather’s film archive. Machete Language, his first feature film as writer/director, premiered in 2011 at the Critics’ Week of the Venice Film Festival. It screened in festivals all over the world, winning, among other prizes, the New Horizons Award at the Whistler International Film Festival in Canada, and the Jury Prize at the Cartagena Film Festival.
His second feature, Somos lengua, is a documentary about hip-hop in Mexico; it premiered at FICUNAM in 2016, where it won two awards, and was released commercially in Mexico. Bayoneta, his third feature, is set in the boxing world. A co-production between Mexico and Finland, it premiered at the Rome Film Festival in 2018, won Best Directing at the Málaga Film Festival, and was nominated for six Ariel Awards. Alongside Gael García Bernal and Jorge Dorantes, he created, wrote, and produced Here on Earth (Seasons 1 and 2). He was the head writer and executive producer of Everything Will Be Fine (Netflix), created and directed by Diego Luna, and is the executive producer of Pan y Circo (Amazon). He is head of development and creative production at La Corriente del Golfo.
Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia
