Jonás Trueba was born in Madrid, in 1981. Son of the director Fernando Trueba, and producer Cristina Huete, he was immersed from an early age with cinema and developed a deep stemming love for the seventh art. In 2000, he wrote and directed the short film Cero en Conciencia.
In 2010, Trueba wrote and directed his first feature film, Todas las canciones hablan de mí, which explores the breakup of a young couple, earning him a nomination for the Goya for Best New Director. In 2013, his second feature film, Los ilusos, premiered in the Official Selection of the Buenos Aires International Film Festival. As a companion to the film, Trueba published his first novel, Las ilusiones, which follows a young artist attempting to make a film with his friends.
He has taught at the Escuela Universitaria de Artes TAI in Madrid and, since 2013, has been involved in the “Cine en curso” project, which aims to introduce cinema to young students and explore its pedagogical potential.
In 2019, Trueba directed La virgen de agosto, a film about a woman who chooses to stay in Madrid for the summer while her friends leave town. The film premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it received an honorable mention for the Crystal Globe Award and won the FIPRESCI Award. It was also nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film.
In 2021, he completed Quién lo impide, a project he wrote and directed over five years in collaboration with a group of teenagers. The film won the FIPRESCI Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Goya Award for Best Documentary. The following year, Tenéis que venir a verla, a work of extreme novelty about the relationship between two couples during the pandemic, premiered in the Official Selection of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it received the Special Jury Prize. It was also shown in the Silvestre Section at IndieLisboa Film Festival, in what was the director’s first premiere in Portugal.
Jonás Trueba’s films offer vibrant, sensorial, fresh and spiritual snapshots of contemporary life in Spain, where cinema and life merge, exploring themes of love and desire, friendship, relationships and memory. These intimate, small-scale productions are shaped by a collaborative creative process between the director, the cast, and crew, assembled around production company Los ilusos, resulting in a striking authenticity that has helped Trueba define his identity as a filmmaker. His most recent film, Volveréis, premiered at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, marking his first appearance at the festival and winning the award for Best European Film. In Portugal, LEFFEST will premiere the film as part of a complete retrospective of Trueba’s work with his presence, alongside actress Itsaso Arana and producer Javier Lafuente.