Álvaro Brechner (born April 9, 1976 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a Spanish-Uruguayan film director, screenwriter and producer that lives in Madrid. He is best known for writing and directing the feature films, Bad Day to Go Fishing (Mal Día Para Pescar), Mr. Kaplan and A Twelve-Year Night (La Noche de 12 Años). He won a Goya Award from the Academy Awards of Spain, and his films have invited to the most prestigious film festival as Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival. All his three films have been chosen as Uruguay's official selection for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Recently Variety magazine considers Brechner as one of the leading South American screen talents to emerge in the last decade, With only 46, received the "Faro de honor" award for his career at the Santander Festival. Biography He attended the Catholic University of Uruguay where he obtained a degree in Media Studies. In 1999 he earned a master's degree in creative documentary at the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. He directed and produced several documentaries and the 35mm short films: "The Nine Mile Walk" (based on a short story by the American writer Harry Kemelman), "Sofia" and "Second Anniversary". In 2009, his feature film debut Bad Day to Go Fishing premiered at the International Critics' Week of the Cannes Film Festival. It was the Uruguayan candidate for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film went on to win several international awards and has been screened in many film festivals such as the 26th Warsaw International Film Festival (Best Film Free Spirit Comp.), Montreal World Film Festival, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (Best Film Opera Prima), Mar del Plata Film Festival (Best Actor), Moscow International Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, Austin (Best Film & Audience Award), Brooklyn (Best Director), Sofia International Film Festival (Best Film Fipresci), São Paulo, Busan International Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival. The film won 10 Uruguay Fipresci Critics Awards, including Best Film, Best International Film Debut, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor and was nominated for Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actor by the Spanish Critics (CEC). He directed Mr. Kaplan in 2014. The project was developed through TorinoFilmLab' Script&Pitch programme in 2010 and Framework in 2011. He won a €100.000 Production Award and a €30.000 Audience Award. The film was selected by dozens of