The producer Belen Atienza has been awarded the Elias Querejeta Award from the 2024 Film Academy, as announced by the institution chaired by Fernando Méndez-Leite.
This award has been created to recognize outstanding producers of Spanish cinema and will be presented on September 23, within the framework of the San Sebastian Festival.
Pioneer of big-budget films “with international vision” in Spanish cinema, Belén Atienza has made a career out of “putting into practice the principle of what for her is the essence” of production: bringing a story to the screen with a team and the vision of a filmmaker.
‘Pan’s Labyrinth’, ‘Alatriste’, ‘Che: Guerrilla’ and ‘Che, the Argentine’, ‘The Orphanage’, ‘The Impossible’, ‘People in Places’, ‘A Monster Calls’, ‘Marrowbone’, ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ and ‘Snow Society’, which earned her her first Goya, are some of the many projects of this Madrid-born professional, who has been awarded the Elías Querejeta Prize.
“I would like to deeply thank the Academy for this precious recognition. Elías Querejeta is a totem of our cinematography, a reference not only for all producers, but for all of us who are dedicated to cinema,” said Atienza.
The producer explained that she received this award “as an incentive” to continue looking for stories, making them “ambitious” and reaching the public. She also indicated that when she was informed of the decision of the Board of Directors of the institution, she felt “surprise, joy, pride and responsibility“.
Right hand man and creative partner of Juan Antonio Bayona, with whom he forms one of the “most successful” professional tandems in Spanish cinema, he worked at Sogecable and Telecinco Cinema, where he had the opportunity to learn about the international market, pre-sales, manage different budgets depending on the projects, see the trials and errors, and He founded the production company Apaches Entertainment with Enrique López Lavigne.
Atienza looked back and remembered the people “from whom he has learned and with whom he has shared a journey over the years.” His father, “a great film buff”; the producers José Vicuña, with whom he started; María Ángulo, who gave him “his first opportunity”; Enrique López Lavigne and Sandra Hermida; and his colleagues at Telecinco Cinema Álvaro Augustín and Ghislain Barrois.
A supporter of continuing to create films for the big screen, and a proponent of film history being part of the school curriculum, her desk is full of proposals and new projects. She is currently co-producing with Bayona Martin Mauregui’s first film, ‘Vieja loca’, with Carmen Maura; with Sandra Hermida Elena Manrique’s feature film directorial debut, ‘Fin de fiesta’; and all three have Isaki Lacuesta’s new project in pre-production.
ELIAS QUEREJETA AWARD
Elías Querejeta was the man who put together ‘The Hunt’, ‘The Spirit of the Beehive’, ‘The Disenchantment’, ‘The South’, ‘Tasio’, ‘Speak, Mute’, ‘Pascual Duarte’, ‘Mom Turns 100’ and ‘Mondays in the Sun’, among other films.
He contributed to the careers of filmmakers such as Carlos Saura, Víctor Erice, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, Montxo Armendáriz, Gracia Querejeta and Fernando León de Aranoa, among many others. A producer of producers, the Basque director and screenwriter was also behind some of the best titles in national filmography. He is an Honorary Member of the Film Academy, which also recognized him with the Gold Medal. The first Elías Querejeta Award was granted to Andrés Santana.