Diego Céspedes Biography: Age, Net Worth, Parents, Movies, Career, Awards, Partner, Instagram

Diego Céspedes is a Chilean film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his debut feature The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, which won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, as well as earlier short films including The Melting Creatures and El verano del león eléctrico.

An emerging voice in Latin American cinema, he has earned major festival recognition including the Cinéfondation First Prize and has been selected for high-profile jury duties.

Diego Céspedes
Wiki Facts & About Data
Name:	Diego Céspedes
Born:	5 January 1995 (age 31 years old)
Place of Birth:	Santiago, Chile
Nationality:	Chilean
Parents:	Mr. and Mrs. Céspedes
Occupation:	Film Director, Screenwriter
Net Worth:	$500,000

Early Life and Education

Diego Céspedes was born on 5 January 1995 in Santiago, Chile, to parents referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Céspedes. He grew up in a working-class family in the Peñalolén neighborhood, where his father worked as a school bus driver and his mother was a homemaker.

Details about siblings are not publicly available. He received a scholarship to study Film and Television at the University of Chile, graduating in 2018. While a student he worked for three years as an assistant to director Alicia Scherson. He is of Chilean origin, and his religion is Christianity.

Career

Diego Céspedes began his career while still a student, contributing as cinematographer on the short film Non Castus in 2016. His directorial debut came with the short The Summer of the Electric Lion (El verano del león eléctrico) in 2018, which he also wrote. The film won the First Prize of the Cinéfondation at the Cannes Film Festival and the Nest First Prize at San Sebastián.

He followed this breakthrough with the short The Melting Creatures in 2022, which premiered in the Critics’ Week section at Cannes and received further festival nominations.

In 2025 he premiered The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo at Cannes, where it won the Un Certain Regard Prize. The film, which explores themes of community, desire, and resilience, was later selected as Chile’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards and earned a nomination for Best Ibero-American Film at the Goya Awards. Additional honors included prizes at Brussels, Lima, and QCinema festivals.

In the period after his Cannes triumph, Céspedes‘s profile rose rapidly within both Latin American and international cinema circles. He was announced in 2026 as a member of the main competition jury at the Cannes Film Festival, a notable recognition for a director still early in his feature career.

Social Media

• Instagram Handle: @d.cesdi

Personal Life

Diego Céspedes has maintained a private personal life away from public scrutiny. There is no verified public record of marriage, and his relationship status is not publicly known. He has not disclosed information about romantic partners or children.

Filmography

• El verano del león eléctrico (2018)
• The Melting Creatures (2022)
• The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (2025)

Net Worth

Diego Céspedes has an estimated net worth of approximately $500,000. His primary sources of income include directing and screenwriting fees from short films and his debut feature, along with related festival prizes, grants, and professional opportunities arising from international recognition.

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