Noticias

One of Spain’s most celebrated directors best known for his 1990 film ¡Ay Carmela!

When the Spanish film director Carlos Saura, who has died aged 91, completed his first feature, Los Golfos (The Delinquents), a ferocious story of six impoverished children from the Madrid slums, it was invited to the 1960 Cannes film festival.

However, its implicit critique of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco meant that it was forbidden in Spain for another couple of years. Taking his films outside Spain to bypass censorship was a strategy Saura adopted several times, although – an awkward contradiction that he recognised – his films’ success abroad made the dictatorship seem more liberal.

One of Spain’s most prolific auteurs continued to work until the end – his last film, Walls Can Talk, was released last week

Veteran Spanish film-maker Carlos Saura, director of award-winning films such as Peppermint Frappé, ¡Ay Carmela! and Tango, has died aged 91, the day before he was due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Goyas, Spain’s version of the Oscars.

Spain’s Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, the body that hands out the Goya awards, confirmed his death on social media, saying: “Saura, one of the essential film-makers in the history of Spanish cinema, has died at home today at the age of 91, surrounded by his loved ones. His final film, Walls Can Talk, came out last week and demonstrated his tireless activity and his love for his work until the very last moment.”...

MADRID -- Alejandro Amenabar's The Sea Inside swept all the major honors, including best picture, at the 19th Spanish Academy Awards, winning 14 Goya statues from its 15 nominations. Sogecine's The Sea Inside displaced Carlos Saura's Ay, Carmela, which won 13 trophies in 1990, as the most successful Goya winner ever. Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education and Saura's latest, The Seventh Day both left empty-handed. Amenabar picked up four honors Sunday, as executive producer, director, screenwriter and composer, and Spain's most successful movie of the year won all of the acting categories, including favorite Javier Bardem, who portrays real-life paraplegic Ramon Sampedro, and co-star Lola Duenas, who beat out Penelope Cruz for the best actress nod. The Sea Inside had already picked up best director and actor awards in the European Film Awards, best actor and the Jury Grand Prix in the Venice Film Festival and a Golden Globe.