Amat Escalante was born in Guanajuato. His debut feature, Sangre, received the Fipresci Prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2005. Heli won the award for Best Director in the Official Competition at Cannes 2013. The Untamed premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2016 and won the Silver Lion. He directed multiple episodes of the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico. Lost in the Night had its premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.