Spanish director Mario Camus died on Saturday, September 18 in Santander, Cantabria (northern Spain), at the age of 86, the Spanish Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences announced in a message on social networks. His film La Colmena (La Ruche) allowed him to win the Golden Bear at the 1983 Berlin Film Festival.
Fallece el cineasta Mario Camus in Santander. Autor de clásicos de nuestro cine como Los santos inocentes, La colmena, Los dÃas del pasado o Esa mujer. Recibió el Goya de Honor in 2011. pic.twitter.com/vG09t5AZFC
– Academia de Cine (@Academiadecine) September 18, 2021
Born on April 20, 1935 in Santander, Mario Camus, whose main films were inspired by great literary works, gained worldwide fame when La Colmena, a film about the consequences of the Spanish Civil War, won the most prestigious award in Berlin.
The year following this consecration, in 1984, Los Santos inocentes (Les Saints innocents), on a family of poor Extremaduran peasants exploited under Francoism, received the Special Mention of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Its two main actors, Francisco Rabal and Alfredo Landa, were jointly awarded the Best Actor Award. In 2011, Mario Camus also received an honorary Goya, the Goyas being the equivalent of the Oscars for Spanish cinema.
His death came the day after the death, at age 95, of the Spanish playwright and screenwriter Alfonso Sastre, who openly criticized censorship during the Franco dictatorship (1939-1975).
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez paid tribute to them on Saturday, via Twitter. “Those of us who love cinema and theater, today we are in mourning. We bid farewell to two great names in culture, Alfonso Sastre and Mario Camus. From our seats in the audience, we will continue to appreciate their extraordinary works “, he wrote. “My condolences to their families, their friends and the world of culture.”
Los que amamos el cine y el teatro hoy estamos de luto. Despedimos a dos grandes de la culture, Alfonso Sastre y Mario Camus.
Desde las butacas seguiremos disfrutando de sus extraordinarios trabajos.
Put condolencias a sus familiares, amigos y al mundo de la culture.
– Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) September 18, 2021