The most prolific Latino-Canadian filmmaker working at the National Film Board, Germán Gutiérrez was born in Colombia and immigrated to Canada in his early 20s. After studying theatre in Paris, he moved to Ottawa to study cinematography and quickly became interested in directing. Hired by the NFB as a freelance director in 1985, Gutiérrez has since created an extraordinary body of work. He has worked as a cinematographer on 20 films and directed 18, including his landmark documentaries La Familia Latina (1986), Five Centuries Later ... (1991), Societies Under the Influence (1998), Who Shot My Brother? (2005) and The Coca-Coca Case (2009). From 2010 to 2020, Gutiérrez continued his career as an independent filmmaker, directing hits such as Falardeau (2012), Nicaragua: The April Crises and Beyond (2020), History Will Judge (2022), among many others.