Profiles: José Luis Rugeles | Proimágenes Colombia

José Luis Rugeles was born on October 3, 1968, in Bogota. He is a director and cinematographer with over 15 years of experience in creating commercials and music videos. In 1995, he founded Rhayuela Films with Jader Rangel and Óscar Navarro. This film and commercial production company produced his debut film García (2010), which starred Mexican actor Damián Alcázar and Colombian Margarita Rosa de Francisco.
 
His second feature, Alias ​María, which will open in theaters across Colombia on November 12, has already closed deals to be released in ten other countries around the world. Alias María was the opening film at the 55th Cartagena International Film Festival, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Carmel Award for Best Film in the International Competition at the Haifa International Film Festival, the longest running festival in Israel.
 
His first feature García (2010), written by Diego Vivanco, won the Moviecity Award for Best Film at the Cartagena International Film Festival and the award for Best Actress at the Gramado Film Festival in Brazil. It also won Best Actress and Best Costume Design at the MACONDO Awards, granted by the Colombian Academy of Film Arts. It has been selected at several international festivals and screenings, including Rio de Janeiro, Morelia, Chicago, and Melbourne.
 
In 1997 Rugeles traveled to New York to direct the documentary  Umbrella House. He has also directed several short films:  Preludio (1991), Salazar y Torres fueron los culpables (1992), and El dragón de Comodo (2007). The last of these, written by Chucky García, has been selected at numerous Colombian and international festivals and has won a host of awards: Best Director at the Tenth Mostra Curtas Vila de Noia in Spain; Best Short at the Cine a la Calle Festival in Barranquilla, Colombia; Best Art Director at the In Vitro Visual Short Film Festival (now BOGOSHORTS); and Best Director of Photography at the National Film Festival in Ovalle, Chile.
 
Rugeles was second unit director on the film Perder es cuestión de método (The Art of Losing) (2004) by Sergio Cabrera; associate producer of La historia del Baúl Rosado (2005) by Libya Stella Gómez; producer of the animated feature film Circus o el hombre que alquiló su cabeza by the director and artist Carlos Santa; and associate executive producer of the feature film El Páramo, written and directed by Jaime Osorio Márquez.
 
Rugeles studied Film and Photography at Unitec in Bogota, where he graduated in 1991. As a director of commercials, he has worked with brands such as Águila Light, Alpina, Avianca, Axe Safari, Bancolombia, Coca-Cola, Ecopetrol, El Espectador, Éxito, Gladiator, General Motors, Mayonesa Fruco, Noel, Pepsi, Snickers, Soka, Sony, and Tosh. His work in this field has brought him an array of awards, including at the Ibero-American Advertising Festival (FIAP), the Festival of the Caribbean, NOVA, and an Honorable Mention at the New York Festival. The most well-known of his many music videos are "Bolero Falaz" by Aterciopelados, selected by MTV Latino as one of 20 history-making music videos, and “Hay un daño en el baño" by the band Bloque de Búsqueda.