Pedro Almodóvar paid his respects
This Monday family, friends and celebrities have been able to say goodbye to film director Carlos Saura in the funeral chapel that has been installed at the headquarters of the Academy of Cinema in Madrid. The first to arrive was Pedro Almodóvar to «pay tribute» to a film director with a «very long» career. «He was a man who knew how to reinvent himself, after making a lot of fantastic films, he started in musicals, making a type of musical that had not been done anywhere,» he said. SOURCE: (CHANCE/EUROPA PRESS)
Died Friday
Filmmaker Carlos Saura passed away last Friday at the age of 91, just one day before he was to receive the Goya of Honor for his prestigious and long career.
Last farewell
A wake that began at noon and will end in the late afternoon and for which many anonymous citizens have already approached the place to say their last goodbye to one of the best known faces of the Spanish film industry.
Accompanied by his family
Eulalia Ramón and the director’s children remained inside the hall accompanying the iron figure, resting on a black altar and surrounded by candles and white flowers.
Tears
His daughter Anna could not hold back her tears as she thanked all those who came to the wake to show their condolences and leave their messages of affection.
Anna, his only daughter
Despite always being surrounded by his seven children, the film director always showed a greater complicity with his youngest daughter, the only girl and the one who has always been by his side.
Calanda and its drums
A band of drummers from Calanda has accompanied the coffin with its sound at the entrance and exit of the building. Calanda is a municipality in the Bajo Aragón region of Teruel where Luis Buñuel was born and that Saura used when he shot in this town some scenes of his film ‘Peppermint Frappé’, with Geraldine Chaplin. With this film his career was recognized at an international level.
Defining objects
On one side of the coffin there is a photograph of Saura, one of his hats, a camera made by him and a pair of glasses, as well as the Goya of Honor and a director’s chair.
Celebrities
Different celebrities who had a close relationship with the deceased wanted to be there, such as Pedro Almódovar, Massiel, Chonchi Alonso, Andrés Pajares, India Martínez, Pedro Ruiz, Roberto Álvarez, Imanol Arias and Fernando Méndez-Leite, president of the Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain. In the picture, actress Ruth Gabriel.
Honorary Goya
The filmmaker was to receive the honorary award of the institution this Saturday in Seville, so the 37th edition of the Goya Awards will commemorate the memory of an unrepeatable creator. In the picture, the actor Nacho Guerreros.
Their influences
With a filmography that is part of Spain’s cultural heritage, this flamenco lover who opened a path to musical documents, had in Buñuel, Bergman and Fellini his greatest influences «because all three work with the imagination». In the picture, the actor Roberto Álvarez.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta, also attended as representatives of the Government. Pedro Sánchez has advocated to vindicate his work and «magnify» his art. «If cinema and culture represent the soul of a society, the filmmaker represents the soul of our country,» he said.
He was a genius
The artist Massiel also attended the event and said that Saura was «a genius». «I have been very lucky to share many years with him,» she said.
A multidisciplinary artist
The singer India Martínez, who debuted as an actress under the orders of Saura in the play ‘Loca por Saura’ and the actor Imanol Arias, who has praised «one of the most important filmmakers of the last century, and about whom he has said that he is a «powerful» creator and a «multidisciplinary» artist: «He leaves a wonderful legacy. He has had a great contribution to folk and musical cinema that put him at the top. Few people have made such a great contribution to flamenco».
He did not believe in film genres
Saura did not believe in genres and, according to his words, he filmed three types of movies: «The first would be a cinema with its feet on the ground, with a concrete reality like ‘The Delinquents’, ‘The Hunt’, ‘Hurry, Hurry!’; others more creative like ‘Cousin Angelica’, and then the most musical». In the picture, the actor Andrés Pajares and Eulalia Ramón.
De Buñuel to Fellini
Saura shot at different times several films with flamenco figures, from Antonio Gades, Paco de Lucía, Carmen Linares or Cristina Hoyos, to Sara Baras, Miguel Poveda or Estrella Morente. For her part, Rosalía performed at the Goya Gala the song ‘Me quedo contigo’ by Los Chunguitos, which appeared in Saura’s film ‘Hurry, Hurry!’. In the picture, the journalist Pedro Ruiz.
A film with Rosalía
The filmmaker offered Rosalía to work on a film about flamenco. «I have seen Rosalía and I have talked to her in Mexico to tell her that I would like to work with her, but let’s see if it works, because now she is in another world, the American one. And that worries me because, being there, the conditions are much more complicated than in Spain», she pointed out in an interview with Europa Press. In the picture, director Fernando Colomo.
Saura, Buñuel and Almodóvar
Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career spanning more than half a century, and his films won numerous international awards. In the picture, the actor Javier Cámara.
Silver Bear in 1966
In 1966, he became the center of international attention when his film ‘The Hunt’ won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. In the picture, actor Daniel Guzmán.
Special Jury Prize at Cannes
In the 1970s, Carlos Saura was Spain’s best-known filmmaker. His films employed complex narrative devices and were often controversial. He won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes for ‘Cousin Angelica’ (1973) and ‘Cría Cuervos’ (1975), and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1979 for ‘Mama Turns 100’. In the picture, film producer Enrique Cerezo.
Oscar Nominations
In the 1980s, he received two Oscar nominations for best foreign language film, for ‘Carmen’ (1983) and ‘Tango’ (1998). In the picture, actor Emilio Gutiérrez Caba.
