Ana Lila Downs Sánchez, best known as Lila Downs (born September 9, 1968), is an American–Mexican singer-songwriter and actress. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporates indigenous Mexican influences and has recorded songs in many indigenous languages such as Mixtec, Zapotec, Mayan, Nahuatl and Purépecha. Born and raised in Oaxaca, she primarily studied at the Institute of Arts by Oaxaca and briefly attended University of Minnesota, before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She soon began performing in the traditional music scene of Oaxaca City.

Filmography

• 2023A Thousand Pines — Music
• 2023Santuarios del Infinito — Narrator (voice)
• 2022Lila Downs - Desde Bellas Artes México — Lila Downs
• 2021La Civil — Songs
• 2020Canto a La Memoria — Lila Downs
• 2020Xico's Journey — Nana Petra (voice)
• 2019Así sembramos nuestra agua — Narrador
• 2019The Song of Fried Chile — Lila Downs
• La Más Draga — Lila Downs
• 2017La Sonora Santanera - La Fiesta Continúa — Lila Downs
• 2015Lila Downs - Balas y Chocolate — Lila Downs, Music
• 2014Matria — Herself, Music
• 2014River of Fundament — Ranchera Singer, Priest / REN Manager
• 2013Deseo — Lila Downs
• La Mezcladora
• 2012Crossing the Desert — Cantante
• 2012Lila Downs - Pecados y Milagros — Lila Downs
• 2012Mariachi Gringo — Sophia
• 2012Natalia Lafourcade - Mujer Divina (Homenaje A Agustín Lara) — Lila Downs
• 2009The Very Best Of/El Alma de Lila Downs — Lila Downs
• 2008De Cómo Los Niños Pueden Volar — Mamá
• 2007Lila Downs - Lotería Cantada — Lila Downs, Producer, Music
• 2007The hypocrisy of Desire — Music
• 2005Hasta el último trago... Corazón — Lila Downs
• 2005The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo — Frida Kahlo (voice)
• 2003Fuego — Woman
• 2002Frida — Tango Singer
• 2000Corazón Oaxaqueño — Lila Downs

Appearances as themselves (25)

• 2023Trece Cielos: Una Noche para Ponernos al Día — Self
• Ven Acá... con Eugenia León y Pavel Granados — Self
• 2022Lila Downs en el #50FIC — Self
• Léemelo — Self
• 2022Tengo un Sueño 2022 — Self
• 2021A Song for Cesar: Beware a Movement That Sings — Self
• 2021Latin Grammy Celebrates: Them and Their Music — Self - Performer
• 2020El Grito: Lila Downs at the Macedonio Alcalá Theater, with the Alejandro Díaz Orchestra and the Costumbrista Dance Company — Herself
• La hora musa — Self
• 2015The Nightingale and the Night: Chavela Vargas sings Lorca. — Herself
• 2014La UNAM por México: 85 Años de Autonomía Universitaria — Herself
• 2014Santana: Corazón Live from Mexico: Live It to Believe It — Self
• 2012Made in Mexico — Self
• Músicos de Latinoamérica — Self
• 2010Lila Downs y La Misteriosa en París - Live à FIP — Self
• NPR Tiny Desk Concerts — Self
• 200712 Girls Band - Live from Shanghai — Self
• 2007Fados — Self
• 2007¡Pedro Infante... Vive! — Herself - Performer
• 2004En mi país — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self - Emmys Segment
• Las Lunas del Auditorio — Self
• Latin Grammy Awards — Self
• Conversando con Cristina Pacheco — Self
• The Oscars — Self