Héctor Olivera redirects here. For the baseball player, see Héctor Olivera (baseball).


Héctor Olivera (born April 5, 1931 in Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a film director, producer and screenwriter.

He works mainly in the cinema of Argentina, but has contributed to numerous films in the United States.

Biography

He began his career when he was seventeen as a second assistant director and founded his own production company in 1956 at age twenty-five. He has produced over 100 features.

In the United States he is known for two of his films: Night of the Pencils (1986) and Funny Dirty Little War (1983).

After completing Funny Dirty Little War, he directed five films for Roger Corman: Cocaine Wars (1985), Barbarian Queen (1985), Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985), Two to Tango (1988), and Play Murder for Me (1990).

He has occasionally received criticism for his choice of projects. While he has been recognized for delivering poignant political messages in some of his films he has also directed much more commercial fare. Argentine film historian Tamara Falicov addressed Olivera's track record in an article about American and Argentine co-productions in the 1980s and 1990s:


"Olivera stated in an interview that these more politically engaged films were in a sense "subsidized" by the more popular genres that he and Ayala produced. In order for Argentine film to survive, Olivera believes, it must conform to an industrial model as well as serving as a vehicle for cultural production. This model thus far has been successful, as Aries is one of the few remaining Argentine film studios still in production."
Festival juries
In 1988 he was selected as a member of the jury for the feature films official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1998 he was selected as a member of the jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival that selected the "Golden Bear."