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Óscar Ruiz Navia

Óscar Ruiz Navia

Producer, director and cinematographer · Born June 22, 1982 (44) · Cali, Colombia

Oscar Ruiz Navia is a cinephile who never attended a proper film school. Part of a new generation of Colombian filmmakers, he developed his interest in film on his own, and in 2006 founded Contravía (“Another Way,” in English), a production company to develop art house films in his country, where there is not a huge film industry. His first feature, Crab Trap (2010), won several awards, including the FIPRESCI prize at the Berlin Film Festival that year.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
June 22, 1982 (44)
From
Cali, Colombia
Works as
Producer, director and cinematographer
Titles
4 on MovieCove · 19 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 38 days to Oct 27Up 1% in 30 days

What are Óscar Ruiz Navia's films like?

Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Society.

Themes

share of theme weight
Survival
30%
Society
22%
Ideas
21%
Self
14%
Power
14%

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Dark: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their dark movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 1 · Serious 0 · Dark 2

Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 1 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1

Gentle: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their gentle movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 2 · Charged 1 · Intense 0

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 2 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 1 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 1

Easy watch: How much it costs you emotionally; whether you need recovery time. Browse their easy watch movies.
Demand · Emotional cost
easyheavy

A split, not a type: Easy watch 1 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0

Ambiguous: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their ambiguous movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 1 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 2

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Dread
2
Melancholic
2
Tense
1
Joyful
1
Contemplative
1
Other
3

How their films linger

Unsettling2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Óscar Ruiz Navia's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (2).

Subscription and free streaming for Óscar Ruiz Navia's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

19 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page.

  • Material Bruto Silente (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Cinematographer

  • Tigers Can Be Seen In The Rain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Director

  • I Saw Three Black Lights (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)

    Executive Producer

  • The Final Score(2022)

    Show Director

    Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all shows

  • Tragic Jungle(2020)

    Producer

    Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films

  • Dopamina (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Producer

  • Fait Vivir(2020)

    Director · Cinematographer · Producer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • The Black Virgin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Producer

  • The Death and The Goat (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Producer

  • Colombiennes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • Epiphany (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Santiamén (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Cinematographer

  • El Peñón (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Director

  • Siembra (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Producer

  • Los Hongos (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

    Director · Writer

  • Solecito (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

    Director

  • Flores (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

    Producer

  • The Towrope(2012)

    Producer

    Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films

  • Crab Trap (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Director · Writer

Career shape

A full career of 17 titles from 2009 to 2025.

Biggest box office

The Towrope (2012)

$45K worldwide

Highest rated

The Towrope (2012)

Midcredits 68th

Most popular right now

The Final Score (2022)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Directing8 of 17: 4 only directing, 4 with another roleWriting4 of 17: 0 only writing, 4 with another roleProducing9 of 17: 7 only producing, 2 with another roleCinematography3 of 17: 2 only cinematography, 1 with another role

17 titles, 4 with more than one role — producing and directing overlap on 2 of them.

By decade

2000s1 · crew2010s13 · crew2020s3 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Óscar Ruiz Navia's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 68th percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 66th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

66thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

67thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

43rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 4 titles, by percentile

  • 50th to 74th3
  • 25th to 49th1

Shape of the crowd

None of their 4 titles divides audiences: 2 are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Crowd Pleaser2
  • Mixed2

Most loved · producer

The Towrope (2012)

Midcredits 68th · 61% liked

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Óscar Ruiz Navia work with?

People who share at least 2 of Óscar Ruiz Navia's MovieCove titles; Sofia Oggioni shares the most, 2.