Bolivia’s Daniela Cajías Becomes First Female Cinematographer to Win Goya Award

Cinema Tropical:

Bolivian DP Daniela Cajías made history this evening by becoming the first female cinematographer to win Spain’s coveted Goya Award for Best Cinematography. Her historic win was for Schoolgirls / Las niñas, a coming-of-age drama set in nineties and directed by Pilar Palomero.

Cajías had already made history by becoming the first solo female cinematographer to have been nominated for the Goya Award—in 2014, DP Cristina Trenas was nominated along with Juan Pinzás and Tote Trenas for New York Shadows.

Born in La Paz, Bolivia in 1981, Cajías studied at the Escuela de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (ECA) and at Cuba’s San Antonio de los Baños’ International School of Film and Television. Back in Bolivia she worked in the cinematography of Hospital obrero (2009) by Germán Monje, Amarillo (2009) by Sergio Bastani and Los viejos (2011) by Martin Boulocq.

In 2013, she worked as DP in the Colombian documentary The Eternal Night of Twelve Moons / La eterna noche de las doce lunas by Priscilla Padilla, followed by the Brazilian drama Two Irenes / As duas Irenes, the debut feature by Fábio Meira, and the 2018 Mexican documentary film Mi hermano by Alana Simoes.