By Alice Phillips

Academy Award nominee Alejandro Iñarritu (Maria Gonzalez ’13) will host the eighth annual Harvard-Westlake Film Festival March 18 at the Arclight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.

Festival Director Nick Lieberman ’11 said he was inspired to choose Iñarritu after reading a history book about Latin American cinema that called Iñarritu the most important Mexican filmmaker because of his 2000 Spanish-language film, “Amores Perros.”

“We realized that this guy is the top of his field,” Lieberman said. “This is the right guy for the right festival at the right time.”

On March 19, Lieberman and co-Director Jacqueline Sir ’11 have planned “The Day After,” with workshops for the filmmakers whose entries are screened at the Cinerama Dome. The student filmmakers will also have the opportunity to meet with additional speakers.

Iñarritu was nominated for Best Director from the Directors’ Guild of America, Best Director from the Golden Globes and Best Director and Best Picture from the Academy Awards for his 2006 film “Babel” which was nominated for five Academy Awards. His most recent film, “Biutiful,” premiered at Cannes 2010 and is a Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Picture nominee.