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        Literature & Literary Studies
        August 2003

        'Other' Spanish theatres

        Erasure and inscription on the twentieth-century Spanish stage

        by Maria M. Delgado

        'Other' Spanish theatres challenges established opinions on modern Iberian theatre by considering the roles of contrasting figures and companies who have impacted upon both the practice and the perception of Spanish and European stages. In questioning the primacy of the dramatist, this pioneering study offers a new interpretation of a nation's theatrical culture that has been viewed primarily through the prisms of a select number of playwrights. Accordingly many of the conclusions reached are new ones, and the case, for acknowledging the wide influence of Spanish practitioners on theatre in Europe and the Americas is made in persuasive terms. Through a bold documentation and interrogation of key productions and their reception both at home and abroad, 'Other' Spanish theatres focuses on the doing of performance, asking provocative questions around how performances are tested against the texts that remain. In a broad and detailed study Delgado selects six case studies which map out alternative readings of a nation's theatrical innovation through the twentieth century: muse and mentor to Federico Garcia Lorca, Margarita Xirgu; theatrical innovator and influence on Orson Welles, Enrique Rambal; tragedienne Maria Casares feted by George Craig Camus, Genet and Cocteau; actress, producer and director Nuria Espert; international director Lluis Pasqual and Catalan performance company La Cubana. ;

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        The Arts
        June 2012

        Alejandro Amenábar

        by Barry Jordan, Nuria Triana-Toribio, Andy Willis

        Since the release of his first feature (Tesis) in 1996, Alejandro Amenábar has become the 'golden boy' of Spanish filmmaking, its 'King Midas', - a bankable star director - whose brand virtually guarantees quality, big audiences and domestic box office success. He has directed three of the biggest grossing movies in Spanish film history and has enjoyed enormous international and critical acclaim (including an Oscar for Best Foreign Film for Mar Adentro/The Sea Inside, 2004). With Alejandro Amenábar, Jordan provides the first full-length study in English of Amenábar's shorts and feature films. Known for his spectacular imagery, sophisticated editing, memorable sound-tracks and challenging subject matter, Jordan shows how Amenábar makes a serious and socially aware, exportable 'middlebrow' cinema, designed for global audiences. There is also a detailed analysis of his engagement with popular film genres as the basis for an auteur cinema, and Jordan incorporates a reappraisal of Amenábar's auteurism as fundamentally decentred and shared. The book will be an essential resource for teachers, students, scholars and fans of Amenábar. It will also appeal to a wider readership, such as those who work in the film, media and culture industries as well as those who have a general interest in the best of Spanish, European and World cinema. ;

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        The Arts
        February 2009

        Daniel Calparsoro

        by Ann Davies, Nuria Triana-Toribio, Andy Willis

        Daniel Calparsoro, a director who has provided a crucial contribution to the contemporary scene in Spanish and Basque cinema, has provoked strong reactions from the critics. Reductively dismissed as a purveyor of crude violence by those critics lamenting a 'lost golden age' of Spanish filmmaking, Calparsoro's films reveal in fact a more complex interaction with trends and traditions in both Spanish and Hollywood cinema. This book is the first full-length study of the director's work, from his early social realist films set in the Basque Country to his later forays into the genres of the war and horror film. It offers an in-depth film-by-film analysis, while simultaneously exploring the function of the director in the contemporary Spanish context, the tension between directors and critics, and the question of national cinema in an area - the Basque Country - of heightened national and regional sensitivities. ;

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        The Arts
        June 2012

        The cinema of Iciar Bollaín

        by Isabel Santaolalla, Nuria Triana-Toribio, Andy Willis

        Director, actress, scriptwriter and producer, Iciar Bollaín is one of the liveliest of contemporary young Spanish filmmakers and the first female director to have had a film (También la lluvia, 2010) shortlisted by the American Film Academy. Through detailed analysis of film form, socio-cultural contexts and conditions of production and consumption, the book opens up key issues on gender, production, film authorship, the mediation of socio-historical realities and the whole question of 'women's cinema'. Covering all aspects of her career, this book begins by taking in her work in front of the camera, beginning with her emergence as a teenage star in Victor Erice's El Sur (1983), and following on with discussions of her mature roles, such as Un paraguas para tres and Leo . Discussion of her work as a producer and director focus on production and form, as well as on the socio-historical contexts to which they belong. Film scholars and students interested in the increasingly prominent place of modern Spanish cinema will find this highly readable book an indispensable guide to an outstanding film-maker who in her directed films addresses some of the more vibrant of contemporary themes: female friendship in Hola, ¿estás sola?, immigration in Flores de otro mundo, domestic violence in Te doy mis ojos, tensions between public and private commitments in Mataharis, and socio-economic exploitation in También la lluvia. ;

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        The Arts
        September 2012

        Julio Medem

        by Robert Stone, Nuria Triana-Toribio, Andy Willis

        This thorough account of the life and films of the Spanish-Basque filmmaker Julio Medem is the first book in English on the internationally renowned writer-director of Vacas, La ardilla roja (Red Squirrel), Tierra, Los amantes del Círculo Polar (Lovers of the Arctic Circle), Lucía y el sexo (Sex and Lucía), La pelota vasca: la piel contra la piedra (Basque Ball) and Caótica Ana (Chaotic Ana), Initial chapters explore Medem's childhood, adolescence and education and examine his earliest short films and critical writings against a background of a dramatically changing Spain. Later chapters provide accounts of the genesis, production and release of Medem's challenging and sensual films, which feed into complex but lucid analyses of their meanings, both political and personal, in which Stone draws on traditions and innovations in Basque art, Spanish cinema and European philosophy to create a complete and provocative portrait of Medem and his work. ;

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        The Arts
        September 2017

        The cinema of Iciar Bollaín

        by Nuria Triana-Toribio, Isabel Santaolalla, Andy Willis

        Director, actress, scriptwriter and producer, Iciar Bollaín is one of the liveliest of contemporary young Spanish filmmakers and the first female director to have had a film (También la lluvia, 2010) shortlisted by the American Film Academy. Through detailed analysis of film form, socio-cultural contexts and conditions of production and consumption, the book opens up key issues on gender, production, film authorship, the mediation of socio-historical realities and the whole question of 'women's cinema'. Covering all aspects of her career, this book begins by taking in her work in front of the camera, beginning with her emergence as a teenage star in Victor Erice's El Sur (1983), and following on with discussions of her mature roles, such as Un paraguas para tres and Leo . Discussion of her work as a producer and director focus on production and form, as well as on the socio-historical contexts to which they belong. Film scholars and students interested in the increasingly prominent place of modern Spanish cinema will find this highly readable book an indispensable guide to an outstanding film-maker who in her directed films addresses some of the more vibrant of contemporary themes: female friendship in Hola, ¿estás sola?, immigration in Flores de otro mundo, domestic violence in Te doy mis ojos, tensions between public and private commitments in Mataharis, and socio-economic exploitation in También la lluvia.

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        The Arts
        April 2019

        Alejandro Amenábar

        by Nuria Triana-Toribio, Barry Jordan, Andy Willis

        Since the release of his first feature in 1996, Alejandro Amenábar has become the 'golden boy' of Spanish filmmaking, a bankable star director whose brand virtually guarantees quality, big audiences and domestic box office success. He has directed three of the highest-grossing movies in Spanish film history and has enjoyed enormous international and critical acclaim, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Film for Mar Adentro/The Sea Inside, 2004. This book is the first full-length study in English of Amenábar's shorts and feature films. It provides detailed analysis of his engagement with popular film genres as the basis for an auteur cinema and incorporates a reappraisal of his auteurism as fundamentally decentred and shared. An essential resource for students, scholars and fans of Amenábar, the book will also appeal to a wider readership, including professionals in the film, media and culture industries as well as those who have a general interest in cinema.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        April 2019

        Daniel Calparsoro

        by Nuria Triana-Toribio, Ann Davies, Andy Willis

        Daniel Calparsoro, a director who has made a crucial contribution to contemporary Spanish and Basque cinema, has provoked strong reactions from the critics. Reductively dismissed as a works of crude violence by those lamenting a 'lost golden age' of Spanish filmmaking, Calparsoro's films in fact reveal a more complex interaction with trends and traditions in both Spanish and Hollywood cinema. This book is the first full-length study of the director's work, from his early social-realist films set in the Basque Country to his later forays into the genres of the war and horror. It offers an in-depth film-by-film analysis while simultaneously exploring the director's position in the contemporary Spanish context, the tension between directors and critics and the question of national cinema in an area - the Basque Country - of heightened national and regional sensitivities.

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