The Council of Ministers will award next Tuesday, February 14, the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise to the filmmaker Carlos Saura, who died last Friday at the age of 91 at his home in Collado Mediano (Madrid). Saura was going to receive the Goya de Honor this Saturday during the 37th edition of the awards held in Seville.
Carlos Saura, fundamental director in the history of Spanish cinema, dies at the age of 91
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The Spanish Government wanted to recognize “his indisputable contribution to Spanish culture and art”, according to the Presidency in a statement issued this Saturday. “Spain says goodbye to Carlos Saura, but we have an eternal filmography left, a work to return to and that represents the best in the history of art and creation in Spain,” the document states. “A story of coherence, freedom, risk and commitment to his country, to the world and to his art.”
The statement from the Presidency of the Government highlights the filmmaker’s career with a brief review of the titles that won him the Golden Bear for best film and two Silver Bears for best director at the Berñin Festival, or the Grand Jury Prize in the Cannes Film Festival. And he also assures that Saura “leaves a universe populated with strong women and protagonists, because few like him portrayed the female universe so well and so well.”
The decoration of the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise coincides, the statement said, with the “deserved recognition in Spain” that the artist obtained “after harsh confrontations with Franco’s censorship.”