Trueba, Fernando

b. 1955, Madrid

   Filmmaker

   Winner of an Oscar in 1994 for his film Belle Epoque (1993), Trueba had his first success in 1980 with one of the earliest in the genre of "Madrid comedies", Opera prima, whose title means both "First Effort" and "Cousin at the (Madrid subway station) Opera". The lead role was played by a new discovery, Oscar Ladoire, who won the Best Actor award at Venice. Other comedies followed including the box office success Sé infiel y no mires con quién (Be Unfaithful and Don't Care With Whom) (1985) and El año de las luces (The Year of Enlightenment) (1986) which won the Silver Bear at Berlin. In 1989 he entered the international market with a Spanish-French co-production Twisted Obsession (El sueño del mano loco), an English language psychological thriller, which won several Goya awards in Spain, but was less successful elsewhere. Belle Epoque, on the other hand, a comedy set in the early days of the Republic, brilliantly co-scripted with Rafael Azcona and García Sánchez, and starring, among other well-known actors, the veteran Fernán Gómez, won both national and international acclaim. His first American film Two Much (1995), a romantic comedy based on Westlake's novel and starring Antonio Banderas broke box office records in Spain as well as selling well at the international American Film Market in 1996.

   See also: film and cinema

   EAMONN RODGERS