Montxo Armendáriz

Montxo Armendariz (born as Juan Ramón Armendariz Barrios; 27 January 1949 in Olleta, Navarra, Spain) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. His film Las cartas de Alou won at the San Sebastian Film Festival. His next film, Stories from the Kronen, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by José Ángel Mañas, was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Secretos del corazón won several Goya Awards, the Blue Angel Award at the Berlin Film Festival and received the Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film.

Early life and work Born on 27 January 1949 in Olleta, Navarra. He was the last hope for his parents, who had already lost three baby sons. His father was a farmhand and blacksmith and Armendáriz spent his first year in rural Basque Country, a landscape that would reappear repeatedly in his filmography. Interested in filmmaking, he joined a film club, studied folklore, wrote and performed protest songs and bought a Super 8 camera to make his own short films. In 1975 he was arrested for protesting the killing of a Basque activist and faced trial on charges of conspiracy; this coincided with Franco's death and a subsequent amnesty was declared.

Eventually Armendáriz left his teaching profession behind to follow a career as film director. He joined Euskal Zinegille Elkartea, a new association of Basque filmmakers and made a series of documentary shorts on Basque topics including: Barregarriaren Dantza (Funny Dance) (1979) and Ikusmena (Landscape) (1980). Tasio won critical praise and placed Armendáriz as an emerging talented director to be considered.

Two year later, he made his second film 27 Hours (1986) which center in a group of youngsters in San Sebastián involved with by drug addiction and delinquency. It was part of a popular trend of Spanish films focused in youth problems that it was falling out of favor by the time this film was released. Nevertheless 27 Hours won the Silver Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

In 1990, Armendáriz returned to the ethnographic style of his first film with: Las Cartas de Alou (Letters from Alou), a narrative that follows a Senegalese black young man who arrives in Spain as an illegal immigrant and has to confront personal and institutional discrimination. Secretos del Corazon received a number of awards and was Spain's candidate to the Academy Awards in the foreign language film category that year.

In 1999 Armendáriz founded his own production company Oria films with Pui Oria.

Filmography as director YearEnglish titleOriginal titleNotes 1979 Funny Dance Barregarearen dantza Documentary short 1980 Landscape Ikusmena Documentary short 1981 The Riberbanks of Navarre Ikuska 11 Documentary short 1981 The Charcoal workers of Navarre Nafarrako Ikazkinack /Carboneros de Navarra Documentary short 1984 Tasio Tasio Fotogramas de Plata Best Spanish Film 1986 27 Hours 27 Horas Silver Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. 1990 Letters from Alou Las cartas de Alou Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. 1994 Stories from the Kronen Historias del Kronen Adaptation of José Angel Mañas eponymous novel. Goya Award Best Adapted Screenplay 1997 Secrets of the Heart Secretos del Corazón Nominee of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2001 Broken Silence Silencio Roto 2004 Moving Stage Escenario móvil Documentary 2005 Obaba Obaba Based on Obabakoak written by Bernardo Atxaga. 2011 Don't Be Afraid No tengas miedo