Víctor Erice

Víctor Erice Aras Spanish ˈbiɣtoɾ eˈɾiθe born 30 June 1940 Karrantza is a Spanish film director He is best known for his two feature fiction films The Spirit of the Beehive 1973 which many regard as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made and El Sur 1983 Erice was born in Karrantza Biscay He studied law political science and economics at the University of Madrid He also attended the Escuela Oficial de Cinematografia in 1963 to study film direction He wrote film criticism and reviews for the Spanish film journal Nuestro Cine and made a series of short films before making his first feature film The Spirit of the Beehive 1973 a critical portrait of 1940s rural Spain Erice was among other filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel who lived in such restricted societies as Francos Spain to take aim at the authoritarian rule in power At the time his first film was released in 1973 Francisco Franco was still in power One of the things The Spirit of the Beehive is known for is its use of symbolism to portray what life was like in Spain under Francos rule Setting the movie in 1940 at the start of Francos rule was a risk for Erice given that the film wasnt a propagandist effort in which stalwart Francoists won victories against evil priestmassacring Republicans Ten years later Erice wrote and directed El Sur 1983 based on a story from Adelaida García Morales another highly regarded film although the producer Elías Querejeta only allowed him to film the first twothirds of the story His third movie The Quince Tree Sun 1992 is a documentary about painter Antonio López García The film won the Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival In July 2022 thirty years after his last fulllength film a project for a new Erice film Cerrar los ojos supported by Pecado Films Tándem Films Nautilus as well as Canal Sur was revealed to be in development The film premiered in the following year at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and was met with very positive reviews He was a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in May At the 2014 Locarno Film Festival Erice was awarded with a Golden Leopard award for lifetime achievement