Ángeles Cruz (born 1969) is a Mexican actress, film director, and screenwriter. As a filmmaker, she has focused on themes of ostracism, female sexuality, and gender violence. In a 2022 interview, she explained, "I have three imbalances: I come from an indigenous community, I am a woman, and I am a lesbian – things that have been stereotyped and placed in an emerging situation of survival." Her work has been recognized with three Ariel Awards.
Biography Ángeles Cruz is originally from Villa Guadalupe Victoria in , a mostly indigenous community high in the mountains of Oaxaca. She grew up primarily speaking Spanish, but learned some Mixtec from her father. In her community there was no electricity, no water, and no cinema. She saw only one film in her first sixteen years, , which her father had in 16 mm. "When I saw the film for the first time in a cinema, it changed me, transformed me; it totally pulled out the rug," she recalled.
She wanted to be an agronomist and dedicate herself to farming, but her family had to relocate, first to Tlaxiaco, and later to Oaxaca. There, she switched to studying theater, a decision she credits to her high school teacher Sergio Santamaría.
Cruz studied at the Miguel Cabrera Center of Artistic Education in Oaxaca, and later completed a licentiate in acting at the INBA Theater Art School in Mexico City.
In 1994, she began getting roles in cinema. Her first film as an actress was the Swedish-Danish drama La hija del puma about massacres that occurred in Guatemala against the indigenous people. Her performance was nominated for the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
In 2011, Cruz started writing her own stories, and directed a short film made from one such script, La tiricia o cómo curar la tristeza. It was produced by the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía, and won the Ariel Award for Best Short Film in 2013.
She continued with the shorts La carta and Arcángel, followed by her first feature, Nudo Mixteco, starring and Noé Hernández, which tells three stories of women living in indigenous communities in Oaxaca. Regarding the film's explicit love scenes between women, Cruz said,
Filmography Films as director La tiricia o cómo curar la tristeza - short, 2012 La carta - short, 2014 Arcángel - short, 2018 Nudo Mixteco - 2021 Valentina or the Serenity - 2023
Films as actress Year Title Role Director 1994 La hija del puma Aschlop Åsa Faringer and Ulf Hultberg 1998 The Other Conquest Doncella Salvador Carrasco 2000 Rito terminal Celia Óscar Urrutia Lazo 2002 Aro Tolbukhin: In the Mind of a Killer Agustí Villaronga 2005 The Violin Jefa Guerrilera 1 Francisco Vargas 2008 Araceli 2 2010 Petra José Luis Gutiérrez Arias 2011 Matiri Margarita Cadenas 2012 The Girl Rosa's mother David Riker 2016 Tamara y la catarina Tamara 2018 Dos Fridas Adelita Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez Tiempo de lluvia Soledad Itandehui Jansen Traición Ignacio Ortiz 2019 La ira o el seol Juan Mora Catlett 2023 Familia Teresa Rodrigo García 2025 The Follies Irlanda
TV series as actress Year Title Role Channel 2001–2005 Lo que callamos las mujeres Rosa, Tomasa Azteca Uno 2008 Capadocia Fernanda Castrejón HBO 2017 El Chapo Evelina Univision 2018 Malinche Macti Canal Once 2018–2020 Here on Earth Jacobina Fox Premium 2024 Como agua para Chocolate Nacha HBO
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref. 2000 Ariel Award Best Supporting Actress Rito terminal 2013 Ariel Award Best Fiction Short La tiricia o cómo curar la tristeza 2014 Guldbagge Award Best Actress in a Leading Role La hija del puma 2015 Ariel Award Best Fiction Short La carta 2017 Silver Columbus from the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival Best Actress Tamara y la catarina 2019 Ariel Award Best Fiction Short Arcángel Jury Film Award from theCinequest Film & Creativity Festival Best Narrative Short Film: Drama Coral Prize from theHavana Film Festival Best Fiction Short 2022 Ariel Award Best First Work Nudo Mixteco Ariel Award Best Picture Canvas Award from the Best Picture
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