Born in Albacete in 1928, he became interested in university theatre and amateur cinema. After being imprisoned for insults to the Franco regime, he went to Paris in 1956 where he has been living since then. Trained at IDHEC, the Institute for Advanced Cinematographic Studies in Paris, he is a film critic, has worked as assistant director with Jean Renoir, Drot and Mitrani, and has been a scriptwriter and director since 1967. He has made more than sixty full-length and short films. They include: Comment se débarrasser des restes du Cid (1973); L’amour et la charité (1973); Mourir sage et vivre fou Don Quichotte (1973); ¡Arriba España! (1975); Joseph et Marie: les mots et les gestes (1979); Le diable (1994); Franco, un fiancé de la mort (1996); Pinochet et ses trois generaux (2004), etc.
He has also made films where he presents masterly portraits of artists and interviews with them: La leçon de cinéma de François Truffaut (1983); Juan Carlos Onetti (1989); Rafael Alberti (1998); Antonio Saura, quelques rêveries d’un promeneur solitaire (1983); Jorge Luis Borges: Le passé qui ne menace pas (1969) and Luis Buñuel tourne ‘La Voie lactée’ (1968). In 1979 he won the French Critics’ Prize for Chili-Impressions and the Minerva d’Or award in 1979 for Joseph et Marie. In 1980 he received an award from the French Société d’Auteurs in recognition of his whole career. He received a tribute to his work at the Florence Festival in 1979 and at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 1980 he received a special tribute and a cycle of his films was shown. He received tributes and cycles of his films were shown at film libraries in Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid in 1981. Winner of the International Critics’ Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 1984 for Entre-Temps and winner of the Special Jury Award at the Bondy Festival for ¡Arriba España! in 1987.
The Vice-President of the Diputació de Girona, Enric Vilert, presented the award on 11 December at the Maison de l’Amérique Latine in Paris.