Top 10 Directors from Spain

The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel was born in a small town (Calzada de Calatrava) in the impoverished Spanish region of La Mancha. He arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodóvar couldn't study filmmaking because he didn't have the money to afford it. Besides, the filmmaking schools were closed in early 70s by Franco's government. Instead, he found a job in the Spanish phone company and saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera. From 1972 to 1978, he devoted himself to make short films with the help of of his friends. The "premieres" of those early films were famous in the rapidly growing world of the Spanish counter-culture. In few years, Almodóvar became a star of "La Movida", the pop cultural movement of late 70s Madrid. His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (1980), was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release. In 1987, he and his brother Agustín Almodóvar established their own production company: El Deseo, S. A. The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has reached all over the world, making his films very popular in many countries.

Juan Antonio García Bayona is a Spanish film director. He directed the 2007 horror film The Orphanage, the 2012 drama film The Impossible, and the 2016 fantasy drama film A Monster Calls. Bayona's latest film is the 2018 science fiction adventure film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the fifth installment of the Jurassic Park film series. He has also directed television commercials and music videos. He will direct the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Álex de la Iglesia is one of the most popular and respected European filmmakers of his generation. Considered a genre of his own, based on his skill and originality in a range of cinematographic art styles, he has currently finished shooting the second season of "30 Coins", the successful HBO Max series. 2022 saw the release of two feature films directed by de la Iglesia: the slasher "Veneciafrenia" (part of The Fear Collection) and the romantic road movie "Four's a Crowd", alongside "Venus" by Jaume Balagueró, which was produced by Álex de la Iglesia, in association with Sony Pictures and Amazon Prime Video.

Born in Bilbao, Álex de la Iglesia started out in the world of comics and he has never lost this side to him throughout his career in film. He began as a director in "Mutant Action" and "The Day of the Beast", movies that changed the face of Spanish fantastique genre forever. Among his most renowned works are "The Last Circus" - praised by The New York Times the same day it was released in the US -"Ferpect Crime", "Witching and Bitching", "My Big Night" and "The Bar".

With Pokeepsie Films, the production company De la Iglesia created with his wife, prestigious producer Carolina Bang, he has contributed as a producer to nurturing a new generation of filmmakers, such as Paul Urkijo, Eduardo Casanova, Zoe Berriatúa, Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel.

With Bang and De La Iglesia as producers, Pokeepsie Films had great success with movies such as "70 Big Ones" by Koldo Serra and "Perfect Strangers" and "Veneciafrenia", both directed by Álex de la Iglesia himself. "Four's a crowd" is his latest release as a feature director, while as a producer he has also been part of "La Pietà", by Eduardo Casanova, and the aforementioned "Venus", directed by Jaume Balagueró.

In 2023, Pokeepsie Films has released the HBO Max series, "Headless chickens", starring Hugo Silva, the Prime Video original feature film "My fault" (the most watched non-English language movie in the history of the platform), and has started shooting "1992", a Netflix series directed by Álex de la Iglesia.

Julio Medem was born in San Sebastian in northern Spain. As a teenager Medem made short movies with a super-8 camera owned by his father. Some of those films are "El ciego" (1976), "El jueves pasado" (1977) and "Fideos" (1979.) Wanting to know more about the darkest corners of the human mind, Medem studied psychiatry. In 1985 Medem received a degree in medicine from the University of the Basque Country. In 1986 Medem directed "Patas en la cabeza," a 35MM short that won an award in the international Festival of Bilbao. In 1987, after winning the Telenorte prize for another short movie, "Las seis en punta", he decided to become a professional filmmaker. Medem worked as assistant, editor and screenwriter in differents projects for cinema and TV. He also wrote several screenplays, but they were all refused by most of production companies in Spain. Finally, in 1991, Medem received a call from a new production company called SOGETEL. They were interested in his script titled "Vacas," about the fight between two families during three generations, from 1875 until 1936. Medem directed the film for SOGETEL and it was released in 1992. "Vacas" was brilliantly received and became a big success. It won the Goya Award from the Spanish academy for best new director, and won prizes in the festivals of Tokyo, Torino and Alexandria. In 1993 Medem made his second movie, "La ardilla roja." "La ardilla roja" confirmed Medem's talents and won prizes in Fort Lauderdale, Bogota and Bucarest. His third movie, "Tierra," released in 1996, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. In 1998 Medem released "Los amantes del Circulo Polar," considered his best movie by most of his fans. It also became a box-office hit with more than one million spectators in Spain. "Los amantes del Circulo Polar" was also released worldwide. In 2001 his fourth movie, "Lucia y el sexo," became a huge hit and began the career of actress Paz Vega who won the Goya for best new actress. In 2003 the release of "La pelota vasca," a documentary that portrays the phenomenon of nationalism in the Basque Country of northern Spain, was very polemical.

Julio Medem is for sure the most important and original Spanish filmmaker.

Javier Fesser was born in 1964 in Madrid, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for Camino (2008), Champions (2018) and Bienvenidos (2015).

Born in Madrid, Iciar Bollain has worked as an actress in films such El Sur (1983), directed by Víctor Erice; Sublet (1991) directed by Chus Gutiérrez, Malaventura (1988) directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón; El Mejor de los Tiempos (1990) and Un Paraguas para Tres (1992) directed by Felipe Vega, Tierra y Libertad (1995) directed by Ken Loach, LEO (2000) directed by Jose Luis Borau, Nos Miran (2002) directed by Norberto Pérez, La Balsa de Piedra (2003) directed by Geogre Sluiezer and La Noche del Hermano (2005) directed by Santiago García de Leániz. As a director, Icíar has written and directed many renowned films. Flowers from Another World, her second film, was awarded at Cannes Film Festival in 1999 (Best Film in the International Critics' Week). Take my eyes (2003), her following film as writer and director, won 7 Goyas (Spanish Academy Awards), including Best Film, among many other international awards. She directed a script by Paul Laverty in 2009, Even the Rain. The film obtained national and international recognition: 13 nominations to the Goya Awards, Panorama Award at the Berlinale, Ariel Award to best Latin-American film and it was in the short list of the foreign films selected for the Academy Awards in 2010 representing Spain. In 2011 she directed and co-wrote Katmandú, un Espejo en el Cielo. The film was nominated to the Goya Awads in the categories of Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2014 it was released En Tierra Extraña, a documentary that Iciar directed about the life of young Spanish immigrants in Edinburgh, Scotland, who had to leave Spain due to recession and unemployment Iciar Bollain is currently in pre-production of his next film, The Olive Tree, a new collaboration with the writer Paul Laverty and Morena Films. The film will start principal photography in May 2015.

Enrique Urbizu was born in 1962 in Bilbao, Vizcaya, País Vasco, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for La caja 507 (2002), No Rest for the Wicked (2011) and La vida mancha (2003).

Fernando León de Aranoa was born on 26 May 1968 in Madrid, Spain. He is a writer and director, known for The Good Boss (2021), A Perfect Day (2015) and Mondays in the Sun (2002).

Nacho Vigalondo was born in 1977 in Cabezón de la Sal, Cantabria, Spain. He is a writer and actor, known for Timecrimes (2007), Colossal (2016) and Extraterrestrial (2011).

Daniel Monzón was born in 1968 in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain. He is a writer and director, known for Cell 211 (2009), El corazón del guerrero (1999) and El nino (2014).