Born in 1966 in Salta, Argentina, Lucrecia Martel studied at Avellaneda Experimental (AVEX) and attended the National Experimentation Filmmaking School (ENERC) in Buenos Aires. Issued from the "nouvelle vague" of Argentinean directors, which includes A. Caetano, D. Burman, U. Rosell, B. Stagnaro, S. Gugliotta and J. Gaggero, she directed a number of short films between 1988 and 1994. Rey Muerto (Dead King) in 1995 was part of Historias Breves I (Brief Tales I). In 2001, she directed her first feature La Ciénaga (The Swamp), award-winner at Berlin, Sundance, Havana, and Toulouse among other festivals. Selected for the 3rd edition of the 2002 Festival's Residence, she has since written and directed La Niña Santa (The Holy Girl), a reflection about adolescence, and the awakening of desire and faith, selected in Competition at the 2004 Festival de Cannes.