M.A., Filmmaker and Berlinale Talent Class of 2019. He studied film directing under Abbas Kiarostami and graduated from the National School of Cinematic Arts at UNAM with a specialization in directing and cinematography. Screenwriter, director, and editor of “La Paloma y El Lobo” , which premiered at the 2019 Locarno Film Festival, where it won the Swatch Art Peace Hotel Award. The film was featured in the NEW DIRECTORS / NEW FILMS program at Lincoln Center and MoMA, won Best Mexican Film at FICUNAM 2020 and Best Mexican Film at Los Cabos 2019, and received four Ariel Award nominations.
In 2021, he released his short film “The Longest Dream I Remember” at the Sundance Film Festival. He served as screenwriter, director, and editor on this short film. The short film was an official selection at international festivals such as Leeds, Zinebi, Morelia, and the Cannes Critics’ Week. With this short film, he won the 2022 Ariel Award for Best Fiction Short Film from the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, in addition to winning five awards at Shorts México.
Prior to this, his short film “24° 51’ North Latitude” —in which he served as screenwriter, director, and editor—received the Orona Award at the 2016 San Sebastián Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Ariel Award for Best Fiction Short Film and won five awards at Shorts México.
He is currently working on his feature film “God and the Devil’s Cumbia” which won the VFF Award and the WCF Audience Strategy Award at the Berlinale Talent 2023 Co-Production Market.
Carlos Lenin participated in the Laboratorio de Historias during the 21st edition of FICM with the screenplay for “God and the Devil’s Cumbia”. In 2025, he released episode seven of the second season of “VGLY” on HBO MAX. He is currently in post-production on the feature film “El Rey del Drama” for Amazon Prime Video, starring Diego Calva.
