Born on February 22, 1900 in Calanda (Aragon, Spain), he began his graduate studies in philosophy after moving to Madrid, and there he met Dalí and Federico García Lorca. Shortly after, he moved to Paris where he began to get closer to the world of cinema.

Although he began working in theater, his true passion was the world of celluloid and in 1928 he made his first short film, ‘An Andalusian Dog’, which he developed together with the well-known painter Salvador Dalí and which caused a real sensation in the group of surrealists. In 1930 he directed his first feature film, 'The Golden Age', which would be a scandal and would be banned until 1980.

Considered one of the most important directors in the history of cinema, throughout his career he has developed titles both in Spain, as in the United States and Mexico, the country where he lives most of his life. Among his titles are 'The Forgotten' (1950), 'Nazarín' (1958), 'Viridiana' (1961), 'The Exterminating Angel' (1962) or 'The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie' (1972), for which receives the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. On July 29, 1983, he died in Mexico City, leaving behind an incomparable filmography.