Amanda Villavieja

Biography

Amanda Villavieja is a distinguished Spanish sound recordist and production sound mixer, celebrated for her ability to capture the "soul" of a location through direct sound. A veteran of the Catalan film industry, she has been a frequent collaborator with auteur directors like Isaki Lacuesta, José Luis Guerín, and Óliver Laxe, often working on projects that blur the line between documentary and fiction. In January 2026, Villavieja made history as part of the first all-female team nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound. She received the nomination for "Sirāt" (2025), directed by Óliver Laxe. Serving as the Production Sound Mixer, she was responsible for capturing the raw, atmospheric audio of the Moroccan desert, which was then woven into a complex soundscape by her fellow nominees, supervising sound editor Laia Casanovas and re-recording mixer Yasmina Praderas. Villavieja's work on Sirāt also earned her nominations for the European Film Award for Best European Sound Designer and the Gaudí Award. Prior to her international breakthrough, she was already a highly decorated figure in Spanish cinema. She is a multiple-time Gaudí Award winner, having taken home prizes for her work on "Las niñas" (2020) and "Entre dos aguas" (2018). She is also an educator, teaching sound at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Barcelona.