Lila Avilés

January 1, 1982 — Mexico City, Mexico

Lila Avilés Solís (born 1982; Mexico City) is a film director, screenwriter, producer and actress who received widespread acclaim for her first feature film, La camarista (The Chambermaid, 2018), the first movie chosen to represent Mexico at the Academy Awards and the Goyas in 2020. Lila Avilés studied Performing Arts and Stage Direction, as well as Film Script. Before venturing into film directing, she was an actress in television series such as El Pantera (2006), Fugas del destino (2010) and Desenado profundo (2010). She debuted as a filmmaker with the short film Deja vu in 2016. Her first feature film, La Camarista, premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. With this film, Avilés won the Ariel Award for first feature, as well as the nomination for Best Director. The film also won the Mexican Feature Film Eye at the 2019 Morelia International Film Festival. In September 2019, the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences chose The Camerista as Mexico's representative for the 34th edition of the Goya Awards and the 92nd edition of the Academy Awards.