José Padilha is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter. Padilha was born in Rio de Janeiro. Before making films, he studied business, politics, and economics in Rio de Janeiro. He attended Oxford University and studied literature and international politics. In 1997, Padilha co-founded the production company Zazen Produções with Marcos Prado, whom he met at Oxford. In the years to come, Zazen Produções would become hugely instrumental in his film making affairs.

He is best known for directing the Brazilian critical and financial successes Elite Squad and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within and the 2014 remake of RoboCop. He has won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Elite Squad in 2008. He is also the producer of the Netflix original series Narcos, starring frequent collaborator Wagner Moura, and directed the first two episodes in the series.