Cristina Gallego is a Colombian filmmaker, screenwriter and director. He received international attention with the film Birds of Passage (Pรกjaros de verano), which he directed with Ciro Guerra.
He began producing in 2004 with Ciro Guerra's debut feature, Wandering Shadows (La sombra del caminante). He ran the production company Ciudad Lunar with Guerra and produced the director's films The Wind Journeys (2009) and Embrace of the Serpent (2015). Set in the Amazon and shot in black and white, Embrace of the Serpent became the first Colombian film to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Meeting the Wayuu community in the La Guajira region while filming The Wind Journeys was the beginning of a research that would last nearly ten years. Birds of Passage, which emerged as a result of this work, tells the story of a Wayuu family breaking away from their traditions and being dragged into the drug trade. The production, which is Gallego's first film as a director, was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival in 2018; It was named Colombia's Oscar nominee and was on the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film, announced in December.
