Carlos Saura

Carlos Saura (1932-2023) was a film director and screenwriter, one of the most internationally prestigious Spanish filmmakers and a leading figure of auteur cinema. He was also a novelist, draughtsman and photographer. A cinephile from a young age, he inherited a love of music from his mother, a professional pianist, while his elder brother, the celebrated painter Antonio Saura, shaped his artistic leanings; references to Hieronymus Bosch and Goya appear in his creations. He practised photography as a teenager and from 1950 made reportages with a 16 mm camera. He studied at the Institute for Film Research and Experience (IIEC) in Madrid and made his debut with the documentary Cuenca (1958). In 1959 he directed Los golfos, clearly influenced by Neorealism, and in 1965 he surprised critics and audiences with La Caza. In the mid-1970s he began his collaboration with producer Elías Querejeta, the most fruitful period of his career, with titles such as Peppermint frappé, La prima Angélica, Cría cuervos and Mamá cumple cien años. In the 1980s, together with Antonio Gades, he made Bodas de sangre, Carmen and El amor brujo. In his later decades he focused on documentaries such as Sevillanas, Flamenco and Tango.