Isabel Herguera

{{Infobox person

| name = Isabel Herguera

| image =Isabel_Herguera.jpg

| alt =Photo of Isabel Herguera

| caption =Isabel Herguera

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1961

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Spain

| other_names =

| occupation = Film Director

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works = Sultana’s Dream

}}

Isabel Herguera is an artist, filmmaker, cultural manager, professor, and critic. She has won more than 50 awards at various international film festivals.{{sfn|Male|2019|p=36}}

She graduated from UPV-Bilbao, continued her studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1988,{{cite web | url =https://animatorsguild.com/2020/10/05/isabels-india-affair/ | title =Isabel's India Affair | last =Rao | first =Snigdha | date =2020-10-05 | publisher =Animators Guild | access-date =2023-10-26}} and obtained a master's degree at CalArts.{{cite web | url =https://filmfreeway.com/IllustratedWomanMehndi | title =Illustrated Woman | publisher =FilmFreeway | access-date =2023-10-26}} In her 1989 movies Safari and Song of the Round Trip animation, sculpture and video were merged and together created a special work of art.{{sfn|Male|2019|p=36}}

In 1994, she founded an animation studio in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Male|2019|p=36}}

In 2003, she returned to Spain from Los Angeles.{{cite web | url =https://marvinwayne.com/en/director/isabel-herguera | title =Isabel Herguera | publisher =Marvin&Wayne Short Films | access-date =2023-10-24}} In 2003–2011, she was the director of Animac, the International Festival of Animated film of Catalonia in Lleida. She also coordinated the motion picture laboratory of the Arteleku art centre in Donostia-San Sebastian.{{cite web | url =https://iffr.com/en/persons/isabel-herguera | title =Isabel Herguera | publisher =IFFR | access-date =2023-10-26}}{{sfn|Male|2019|p=36}}

Over the years, she has served as chair and jury member of various international film festivals.{{cite web | url =https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20161126/412188416339/la-pelicula-bulgara-glory-mejor-largometraje-del-festival-de-cine-de-gijon-2016.html | title =La película búlgara 'Glory', mejor largometraje del Festival de Cine de Gijón 2016 | date =2016-11-26 | publisher =La Vanduardia | access-date =2023-10-26}}{{cite web | url =https://variety.com/2015/film/global/annecy-animation-fest-unveils-lineup-turns-spotlight-on-women-1201483171/ | title =Annecy Animation Fest Unveils Lineup, Turns Spotlight on Women | last =Keslassy | first =Elsa | date =2015-04-28 | work = Variety | access-date =2023-10-26}}{{cite web | url =https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/263184/ | title =Oleh Sentsov added to San Sebastián jury | last =Petković | first =Vladan | date =2014-09-11 | publisher =Cineuropa | access-date =2023-10-26}}

In 2005 she started as a teacher at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India. As a guest animation professor, she worked at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China. In 2017 she became a professor of the animation department in Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, Germany.

In 2012, she became one of the 12 most celebrated Basque filmmakers and directed one chapter of Kalebegiak, a movie that comprised 12 different perspectives on San Sebastián.{{cite web | url =https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/299578/ | title =Omnibus film Kalebegiak is under way | last =Rivera | first =Alfonso | date =2015-09-30 | publisher =Cineuropa | access-date =2023-10-26}}

Herguera's first feature film, Sultana's Dream, was released in 2023. The story is based on a 1905 dystopian fairy-tale by Bengali social activist Begum Rokeya.{{cite web | url =https://variety.com/2017/film/global/spain-women-who-are-rising-film-talent-1202437827/ | title =Spanish Women on the Verge of Breaking Out | last =Mayorga | first =Emilio | date =2017-05-19 | work =Variety | access-date =2023-10-26}} In this movie she also combined different techniques to underline and emphasize the differences between storylines — watercolour, cut-outs of the shadow theatre and Mehndi.{{cite web | url =https://cineuropa.org/en/interview/450345/ | title =Isabel Herguera • Director of Sultana's Dream | last =Olmo | first = Júlia | date =2023-09-24 | publisher =Cineuropa | access-date =2023-10-24}} While it was still in the project stage, the film won the 2022 TorinoFilmLab Audience Design Award of the European Work in Progress in Cologne platform{{cite web | url =https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/432331/ | title =European Work in Progress Cologne announces its winners | last =Vena | first =Teresa | date =2022-10-21 | publisher =Cineuropa | access-date =2023-10-26}} and received a €378,000 grant from the Spanish Film Institute.{{cite web | url =https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/379405/ | title =Spain's ICAA announces the recipients of its selective production support | last =Rivera | first =Alfonso | date =2019-10-09 | publisher =Cineuropa | access-date =2023-10-26}}