Damián Szifron was born on July 9, 1975 in Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires province.
He went to high school at the Escuela Técnica ORT, where he specialized in Media. He later studied film theory with Ángel Faretta, the legendary critic for Fierro magazine, and then Film Direction at the Universidad del Cine.
In 2001, he wrote and directed his first film, El fondo del mar [The Bottom of the Sea], which premiered in 2003.
A black comedy starring Daniel Hendler, Dolores Fonzi and Gustavo Garzón, El Fondo del Mar was presented at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival where it was awarded an Ombú de Plata for the best Ibero-American film and the international critics’ Fipresci Prize. The film also received a jury’s special mention at the San Sebastián International Festival, the prize given by French critics at the Toulouse International Festival, the prize for best screenplay at the Brasilia Festival, and the prize for the best first film at the Lleida Film Festival. In Argentina, it was awarded the Clarín Espectáculos prize for best film, best screenplay and best director.
In 2002 and 2003, he produced, wrote and directed the two first seasons of Los Simuladores [The Pretenders], a series with unprecedented ratings for a work of fiction.
Los Simuladores was awarded six Martín Fierro prizes—including the coveted Martín Fierro de Oro—as well as the Inte International prize for the best series and best credit sequence, and the Clarín Espectáculos prize for the best series, script and direction.
Sony International purchased the right to the series’ format and made versions for Chile, Spain, Russia and Mexico.
In 2005, he wrote and directed Tiempo de valientes [Time of the Brave], a feature film produced by K&S films and Twentieth Century Fox.
A comedy thriller starring Diego Peretti and Luis Luque, Tiempo de valientes was a critical and box-office success in both Argentina and Spain; it opened in many countries around the world. The film was awarded prizes for best film, best director and best actor at the Peníscola International Film Festival and viewers’ choice at the Biarritz Festival. Vantage Films purchased the rights to produce a North American remake.
In 2006, he wrote and directed Hermanos & Detectives [Brothers & Detectives], a series starring Rodrigo de la Serna and Rodrigo Noya that received the Clarín Espectáculos awards for best series, best script and best director, as well as the Fund TV award for best fiction series and the Premio Extraordinario for quality television.
Thus far, versions of Hermanos & Detectives have been produced in Spain, Mexico, Chile, Italy, Turkey and Russia, and others are scheduled for France and the United States.
In 2008, he created Big Bang, a company that develops ideas, formats and scripts for film and television projects.
In 2011, he was awarded the Konex de Brillante prize for best television director of the decade (2001-2010).
He is currently working on four consecutive shoots of four film projects written between 2008 and 2011: Relatos salvajes [Savage Tales], which consists of six brief stories, La pareja perfecta [The Perfect Couple], a romantic comedy, Little Bee, a Western spoken in English, and El Extranjero [The Foreigner], an ambitious sci-fi trilogy.
