The Council of Ministers will award next Tuesday the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise to the filmmaker and creator Carlos Saura for his "indisputable" contribution to Spanish culture and art, after his death at the age of 91.
In a statement, the Government indicated that "Spain says goodbye to Saura, but we have an eternal filmography left, a work to return to and that represents the best of the history of art and creation in Spain." "A story of coherence, freedom, risk and commitment to his country, to the world and to his art," he highlighted.
In addition, he stressed that Saura is "one of the great essential artists in the history of Spain" and praised that he had achieved "international recognition" with his work, which gave him awards at major international festivals such as the Golden Bear for the best film and two Silver Bears for best director at the Berlin Festival, or the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Festival.
At the same time, and "after harsh confrontations with Franco's censorship", it also achieved "deserved recognition" in Spain. “Total creator and indefatigable experimenter,” his “extensive body of work” also includes novels, photographs, operas, and plays. “He leaves a universe populated by strong women and protagonists, because few like him portrayed the female universe so well and so well,” he stressed.
For all these reasons, the Government commented that going through his biography is also "going through the history of art of our century: Saura worked with Camarón, with Paco de Lucía, Vittorio Storaro, Rafael Azcona, Daniel Baremboin or Luis Buñuel himself."
