Paloma Baeza

Biography

Paloma Baeza (born 1975) is a Mexican-British filmmaker and actor who has successfully transitioned from a career in front of the camera to an acclaimed director and animator, establishing her reputation for artistry and emotional storytelling.

🌍 Biography and Early Life

Born in London, Baeza spent her early childhood in Mexico City, as her Mexican father and British mother, both musicians, moved there when she was an infant. She returned to the UK with her mother at the age of nine.

She began her acting career very young, appearing in London theatres and television productions before studying English and Performing Arts at the University of Bristol.

🌟 Career in Acting

Baeza was a prolific actress in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, becoming known for roles in classic and contemporary British television and film. Notable acting credits include:

Bathsheba Everdene in the 1998 television film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd.

Hetta Carbury in the period miniseries The Way We Live Now (2001).

Kitty in the miniseries Anna Karenina (2000).

Mary Magdalene in the 2008 BBC production The Passion.

She also had roles in films like Sunshine (2007) and A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995).

🎬 Career in Directing and Animation

Baeza's focus gradually shifted to directing. She initially directed live-action shorts, including Watchmen (2001), which she co-wrote with and starred Cillian Murphy. Her interest in animation led her to study at the National Film and Television School (NFTS).

Her directorial career took a major leap with her stop-motion graduation film:

Poles Apart (2017): This short film, which tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a polar bear and a grizzly bear due to changing habitats, won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Animation in 2018, as well as an Annie Award.

Following this success, she directed one segment ("III - Listen again and seek the sun") of the 2022 Netflix stop-motion dark comedy anthology film, The House. She is currently developing a hybrid live-action/CG feature film, The Toymaker's Secret, written by her husband, screenwriter and director Alex Garland, and is also developing an animated feature film about the iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, drawing on her own Mexican heritage.