Icíar Bollaín

Icíar Bollaín
Born Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez
12 June 1967
Madrid, Spain
Occupation Director, screenwriter, actress
Years active 1995–present

Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez (born June 12, 1967 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish actress, director and screenwriter.

Early life and education

Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez was born in 1967 as one of twin girls in Madrid to a father who was an aeronautical engineer and a mother who was a music teacher. She grew up in a liberal household in which each member was allowed to follow their own inclination. Icíar and her twin sister Marina showed an early interest in the arts; Icíar towards filmmaking while her sister studied to become an operatic singer. At the age of fourteen, Icíar was cast in Víctor Erice's film, El Sur (1983).

Career

Since then Icíar Bollaín has acted in fourteen films. At age 18, with her twin sister Marina, she was cast by their uncle Juan Sebastián Bollaín in two films: Las dos orillas (1987); a several years later the twins appeared in Dime una mentira (1992). Icíar Bollaín also took roles in films directed by Felipe Vega, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón and José Luis Borau. Her red hair led Ken Loach chose her in part because of her red hair, casting her in his film, Land and Freedom (1995), about the Spanish Civil War. Her experience working with Loach led her to write the book: Ken Loach: un observador solitario.[1]

Bollain at age 23 formed a production company which she named La Iguana, and made two short films: Baja Corazón (1992) and Los Amigos del muerto (1994). With support from Fernando Colomo, she made her her first feature film as director: Hola, ¿estás sola? (Hi, are you alone? in English) (1995), a story about two young girls who dream of finding an earthly paradise and undertake a long trip towards the sea.

Her second feature film was Flores de otro mundo (Flowers from another world in English) (1999), which she co-wrote with Julio Llamazares. It is the story of three women who travel to rural Spain with the hopes of finding love.

Her film Te Doy Mis Ojos (Take My Eyes) (2003) won seven Goya Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. Starring Luis Tosar and Laia Marull, the movie is about a man's abuse of his wife during their marriage, and their struggles to change the pattern of their lives.

Her 2010 film Even the Rain (Tambien la lluvia) was selected as the Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.[2] In January 2011, the film made the final nine shortlist.[3] A film within a film, it is set in the Bolivian highlands in 2000. A Spanish film company's work on Columbus' arrival in the New World gets caught up in local violence related to current exploitation of peasants. It stars Gael García Bernal as the director and Luis Tosar as the film producer. Carlos Aduviri, an Aymara who plays a native leader in the "film," takes the lead in organizing a resistance to water privatization; he was nominated for a Best Newcomer Award at the Goya Awards.

Bollaín has won other awards for acting and script-writing, as well as for directing.

Filmography as director

Year English title Original title Notes
1995 Hi, Are You Alone? Hola, ¿estás sola?
1999 Flowers From Another World Flores de otro mundo International Critics' Week Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival
2003 Take My Eyes Te doy mis ojos Seven Goya Awards (including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Director)
2007 Mataharis Mataharis Goya Award for Best Soundtrack.
2010 Even the Rain Tambien la lluvia Spanish official entry for Academy Awards
2011 Katmandu Katmandú, un espejo en el cielo

Actress

Short films

Director

Short films

Music Videos

Awards

Year Movie Category Result
2004 Te doy mis ojos Best film Winner
2004 Te doy mis ojos Best director Winner
2004 Te doy mis ojos Best script Winner

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Ken Loach : un observador solitario". Worldcat.org. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Bollaín's Even the Rain joins Oscar race". cineuropa. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  3. ↑ "9 Foreign Language Films Continue to Oscar Race". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-01-19.

External links