Ricardo Franco

Ricardo Franco (Madrid, May 24, 1949 - Madrid, May 20, 1998) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter, actor and producer.

He is the nephew of film director Jesús Franco.

Biography

He was the cousin of the writer Javier Marías and the nephew of the film director Jesús Franco, the writer Dolores Franco Manera and the philosopher Julián Marías.

Belonging to the Argüelles School, he made his first short, Gospel (1969), selected for the New Delhi film festival under the influence of this group. Scriptwriter of his own films (and some of others), he had problems with censorship and some of his works, such as The Annual Disaster , were banned.

He gained a certain popularity with Pascual Duarte, based on the novel by Camilo José Cela, produced and commissioned by Elías Querejeta. This film won the best actor award at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival for José Luis Gómez and won the Best Cinematography award from the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos in the same year.

In the mid-eighties he settled in the United States, where, of his various projects, he only managed to make one feature film, Gringo mojado, with actor Sam Bottoms and Mexican Rebecca Jones.

During the 1990s, already ill, he released several films that, in the opinion of many, represent the best of his career. Among them is La buena estrella, which won five Goya Awards and two Ondas Awards, and was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.

In addition, he worked for television in the series La huella del crimen (one of the episodes directed by Franco, "El crimen de las estanqueras de Sevilla", won the FIPA Silver Award at the 1991 Cannes Television Festival), The woman of your life, I, a woman and Chronicles of evil, and directed and produced several documentaries on different religions.

Apart from his work as a filmmaker, he published a book of poems, Los restos del naufragio (1979), and wrote a considerable amount of pop song lyrics, including several for the Spanish group Tam Tam Go!, like his hit Manuel Raquel. He is also the author of the song & # 34; Loco de amor & # 34;, performed by the group Café Quijano and included on their CD How great is this love!

He died just four days before his 49th birthday due to a myocardial infarction, without seeing the completion of what would be his posthumous work, Lágrimas negras.

Filmography

As director

• Gospel (1969) (cortometraje).
• The Annual Disaster (A Futureless Invention) (1970).
• West Africa today (1973) (documentary for television).
• The incredible increase in life (1974) (cortometraje).
• Pascual Duarte (1976).
• The remains of the shipwreck (1978).
• Disa, 50th anniversary (1984)
• Gringe wet (also known as In 'n Out, Unique heir and San Judas de la Frontera1984).
• "The Crime Footprint: The Case of the Dismembered Body" (1985) (TV).
• Berlin Blues (1988).
• "The Lost Woman" in the series The woman of your life (1990) (TV).
• "A song of love" in the series The arrow (1990) (TV).
• "La Huella del Crimen 2: El crimen de las pondras de Sevilla" (1991) (TV).
• "The Song of the Doom," in the series A world without borders (1991) (TV).
• "The sky will fall on the earth" in the series A world without borders (1991) (TV).
• "The color of the skin", in the series A world without borders (with Magali Negroni, 1991) (TV).
• "Death on the Street" in the series A world without borders (1991) (TV).
• Antonio López (1991).
• Javier Mariscal (1991).
• "There will be no flowers for the dead" in the series Chronicles of evil (1991) (TV).
• The dream of Tangier (1991).
• After so many years (1994).
• "Rajasthan: of ascetics and warriors" ("Jainism: Ascetics and Warriors"), in the series Ashes on the river, cap. 2 (1995).
• Oh, dear! (1995).
• "Darjeeling and Sikkim: the Buddha Tree" ("Buddhism: The Great Wheel of Being"), in the series Ashes on the river, chap. 4 (1995).
• Me, a woman (1996) (dramatic series of 13 chapters, TV)
• The good star (1997).
• Black tears (with Fernando Bauluz, 1999).

As a writer

• Góspel (with Javier Marías) (1969).
• The Annual Disaster (A Futureless Invention) (with Javier Marías) (1970).
• The incredible increase in the cost of living (1974).
• Pascual Duarte (with Emilio Martínez-Lázaro and Elías Querejeta) (1976).
• The remains of the shipwreck (1978).
• Gringe wet (with Ellen Kesend) (1984).
• The dream of Tangier (1986).
• Bye, little girl. (with Imanol Uribe) (Imanol Uribe, 1986).
• Berlin Blues (1988).
• The lost woman (with Luis Ariño) (1989).
• Blood and sand (with Rafael Azcona) (Javier Elorrieta, 1989).
• A song of love (1990).
• Antonio López (with Teresa Aranda) (1991).
• After so many years (1994).
• Oh, dear! (with Joaquín Oristrell, Yolanda García Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra) (1994).
• Darjeeling and Sikkim: the Buddha tree (with Luis Ariño) (1995).
• Rajasthan: of ascetics and warriors (with Luis Ariño) (1995).
• Your name poisons my dreams (with Pilar Miró and Ángeles González Sinde—not accredited—) (Pilar Miró, 1996).
• The good star (with Angeles González Sinde) (1997).
• Black tears (with Angeles González Sinde) (1998).

As an actor

• Geneva in hell (Jaime Chávarri, 1969).
• I love my rich bed (Emilio Martínez-Lázaro, 1970).
• The remains of the shipwreck (1977).
• My daughter Hildegart (Fernando Fernán Gómez, 1977).
• The Cabinet of Doctor Angustias (José Luis Olaizola, 1977).
• Travel companion (Clemente de la Cerda, 1977).
• Sonambulos (Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, 1978).
• Pepi, Luci, Bom and other girls in the lot (Pedro Almodóvar, 1980).
• The blue dove (Francisco Fernández Cueto, 1980).
• Percussion (Josecho San Mateo, 1982).
• The impeccable sinner (Augusto Martínez Torres, 1987)
• The mother (Miguel Bardem, 1995).
• Murdering women

As a producer

• Góspel (1969)
• The Annual Disaster (A Futureless Invention) (1970).
• Television series Ashes on the river (five chapters) (1995).
• All the gods a god (Mikel Clemente, 1995).
• Kerala: the essence of the palm tree (Daniel Cebrián, 1995).
• Kashmir: the sacred valley (Daniel Cebrián, 1995).

Awards and distinctions

Cannes International Film Festival

• Gold Medal to Merit in Fine Arts (1997)
• The good star
  • 1998: Goya a la Mejor Dirección
  • 1998: Goya to the best original script
  • 1997 Film waves to the Best Director
  • 1997: Festival de Cannes (Section A certain Look): Ecumenical Jury Award- Special Mention
  • 1997: Mar del Plata Festival: Best Director and actor
  • 1997: Forqué Awards: Best Film
  • 1998: San Diego International Festival: Best Film