Imanol Uribe

Spanish filmmaker Imanol Uribe gained fame early in his career for his controversial socio-political portraits of the Basque people and their struggle to become a separate nation. Though born in El Salvador, Uribe is of Spanish heritage and was raised in Madrid since early childhood. In 1972, Uribe earned a journalism degree and later studied film direction at the Escuela Oficial de Cinematografía. After graduating in 1974, Uribe founded his own production company, Zeppo Films, and began making short films about the Basques, the first of which, El Proceso de Burgos/The Burgos Trial (1979), caused controversy with its look at the 1970 court-martials of ETA militants under Franco's regime. Uribe's second feature, La Fuga de Segovia (1980), was fictional but still centered upon Basque concerns, as does his third feature, La Muerte de Mikel/Mikel's Death (1983). Since then, Uribe has primarily made films in Madrid. He made his most successful film, El Rey Pasmado/The Dumbfounded King, in 1991. In 1994, Uribe returned to Basque issues with the acclaimed and compassionate Dias Contados (1994), which was hailed as one of Spain's most powerful social dramas of the '90s. With Bwana (1996), Uribe took on Spanish xenophobia against African immigrants.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide