Patricia Cardoso is an award-winning director, writer, and producer. Born in Colombia, she studied film at UCLA. Cardoso’s student film, THE WATER CARRIER (1995) won the Dramatic Gold Medal at the Student Academy Awards. Cardoso’s first feature, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES (2002), starring America Ferrera, won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and become one of the most influential films of the decade.
In Colombia, Cardoso directed the film EL PASEO DE TERESA TERESA (2017) which enjoyed box-office success.
In 2019, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES was added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, making her the first Latinx director to receive this honor. Cardoso is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and teaches film at the University of California, Riverside.