With a degree in philosophy from the University of Deusto, De la Iglesia began drawing comics in fanzines such as No, el fanzine maldito[1] and Metacrilato, as well as in magazines such as Trokola, Burdinjaun and La Ría del Ocio. De la Iglesia always acknowledges Alex Raymond (creator of Flash Gordon) and Stan Lee (founder of Marvel Comics and co-creator of Spider-Man and The Hulk) as his main inspiration as a comics artist.
It was also around this time, between 1986 and 1989, when he founded in Bilbao one of the first role-game clubs in Spain: Los Pelotas.
In his debut in the film industry, De la Iglesia was art director in the short film Mamá (1988),[2] by Pablo Berger, and again in Enrique Urbizu’s feature Todo por la pasta (Anything for Bread (1991). De la Iglesia had already collaborated with Enrique Urbizu and Joaquín Trincado designing the poster for their first film, Tu novia está loca (1988).[3]
Álex de la Iglesia’s first short film, Mirindas asesinas (1991),[4] got the attention of Pedro Almodóvar, whose production company, El Deseo, collaborated in De la Iglesia's first feature film, Acción mutante (the sci-fi actioner) (1993).
El día de la Bestia
De la Iglesia’s next movie would establish him as one of the most important directors of Spanish cinema: El día de la Bestia (1995), written with Jorge Guerricaechevarría, co-screenwriter in most of Álex de la Iglesia’s films since then. Released internationally as “The day of the Beast”, the film won six Goya awards, including the award for Best Director. This piece turned Santiago Segura into one of Spain's best-known actors and brought back actress Terele Pávez, her being a regular in his movies until her demise in 2017.
Maverick director
Subsequently, De la Iglesia has been combining productions aimed at an international audience, with others closer to the Spanish cultural taste, but all displaying his sublimely witted, often dark, and sometimes even grotesque, sense of humor. Many veteran Spanish actors and actresses have worked under his direction, from Carmen Maura to María Asquerino, as well as several Hollywood stars like Rosie Pérez, Elijah Wood, John Hurt or Salma Hayek.
His film, Balada triste de trompeta (“The Last Circus”, 2010) was awarded two prizes at the 67th Venice International Film Festival, namely, an Osella for Best Screenplay and the Silver Lion for Best Direction. It was also nominated for fifteen Goya awards in 2011, including Best Director, Best Film And Best Original Screenplay. It got to receive the awards for Best Makeup and Best Special Effects. The New York Times praised the movie on a raving piece when the film opened theatrically in the US.[5]
Box Office Hits: Las brujas de Zugarramurdi and Perfectos desconocidos
2013 was the year of Las brujas de Zugarramurdi (“Witching & Bitching”), one of Álex de la Iglesia’s most successful movies, praised by audience and critics. He began shooting it in the fall of 2012 with an extensive cast that included Carmen Maura, Macarena Gómez, Hugo Silva, Mario Casas, Carolina Bang, Terele Pávez and Pepón Nieto, and some cameos by Santiago Segura and Carlos Areces. The film was released in Spain on September 27, 2013, and achieved relevant commercial success, grossing 14.6 million euros, with a total cost of 6M€.[6] It was awarded eight Goyas, including Best Supporting Actress for the veteran actress, Terele Pávez.[7]
In 2017, Álex de la Iglesia released two films: El Bar, with several of his already regular actors (Blanca Suárez, Mario Casas, Carmen Machi, Pepón Nieto, Terele Pávez), and the remake of the Italian film Perfetti sconosciuti, titled in Spanish Perfectos desconocidos (“Perfect Stragers” internationally), with another impressive cast including Belén Rueda and Eduardo Noriega. Perfectos desconocidos was the director's biggest box-office return to date, with almost 20 million euros grossed.[9]
The rise of Pokeepsie Films
In 2009, producer Carolina Bang and Álex de la Iglesia established the production powerhouse Pokeepsie Films. Created to nurture a new generation of bold, daring and innovative filmmakers, Pokeepsie films have produced an impressive slate of successful features, such as Paper House’s director Koldo Serra’s 70 Bin Ladens (“70 Big Ones”), Eduardo Casanova’s multi-awarded Pieles (“Skins”) and La Pietà (released theatrically on January 13th, 2022), Esteban Roel and Juanfer Andrés’ Musarañas (“Shrew’s nest”), starred by the outstanding Macarena Gómez, Alex de la Iglesia’s El bar, Ignacio Tatay’s The Chalk Line (nº2 non-English language film in Netflix for 2 weeks in October 2022), Jaume Balagueró’s Venus, and recently HBO’s massive hit 30 monedas (“30 coins”), seasons 1 and 2.
In February 2021, Álex de la Iglesia announced the shooting of a new film under his direction, produced by Mediaset España, together with his production company. The film is called El cuarto pasajero (“Four’s a crowd”) and stars Blanca Suárez, Ernesto Alterio, Alberto San Juan and Rubén Cortada. With “Four’s a crowd” as international title, El cuarto pasajero was released in Spain in October 2022, with excellent box-office returns
The Fear Collection
In the recent years, Pokeepsie films expanded their activities with ambitious projects such as The Fear Collection,[10] a partnership with Sony Pictures and Amazon Prime to produce a series of horror feature films co-produced by Pokeepsie Films. The movies will be directed by some notable Spanish filmmakers such as Jaume Balagueró, Paula Ortiz, and Álex de la Iglesia himself, among many others. The first film of The Fear Collection is Venicephrenia, directed by De la Iglesia. Venicephrenia had its world-premiere at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia and was released in Spring 2022.[11] The second feature of this collection is Venus, directed by prestigious Catalan helmer Jaume Balagueró. Venus had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Ester Expósito, it was relelased theatrically on Dec. the 2nd. 2022
Television
Álex de la Iglesia has directed sketches for TV shows such as El peor programa de la semana with El Gran Wyoming[12] (TVE) and Inocente, Inocente (regional television), as well as the series Plutón B.R.B. Nero (2008) for La 2 (TVE). This one is a parody of science fiction series starring Antonio Gil, Carolina Bang and Carlos Areces, among others.
At the Venice International Film Festival of 2020, he presented his series 30 monedas (“30 Coins”), which premiered on HBO Spain on November 29 of that same year. The series tells the ordeal of Father Vergara, an exorcist, boxer and ex-convict exiled in a parish of a remote village in Spain. In December 2021, HBO announced 30 monedas was the most viewed show in Spain.[13]
Presidency of the Film Academy
Álex de la Iglesia was elected president of the Academy of Cinematograhic Arts of Spain on June 21, 2009, after presenting himself as candidate — together with Icíar Bollaín and Emilio A. Pina — to replace Ángeles González-Sinde after her appointment as Minister of Culture. De la Iglesia’s main goals as the head of the national industry were to "bring back together at the Academy all the artists who left Spain or are far from the institution". With this, he was aiming at Pedro Almodóvar and his brother, Agustín Almodóvar, who left the organization in 2005 publicly disagreeing with the institution’s voting system. And also José Luis Garci as well, who left the academy in 1999 due to another controversy related with the voting procedures. The filmmaker from Bilbao was also committed to the fight against piracy. In his own words, he wanted to "defend the people who make a living from making films".
On February 14, 2010, De la Iglesia gave his most celebrated speech as president of the Film Academy at the Goya Awards gala, recalling that it was necessary to create laws "that protect the coexistence of all sectors, and that also includes filmmaking". For this reason, the then president of the academy participated in the debate on the second final provision of the Sustainable Economy Law (known as the Sinde-Wert Law) after it was rejected in the Congress on December 21, 2010. This text raised the possibility of closing Internet pages that violate copyright laws after the intervention of an Intellectual Property Commission, instead of just a judge or a magistrate.
Recurring collaborators
Álex de la Iglesia's films usually feature actors and actresses he completely trusts and with whom he has worked before. The most prominent is Santiago Segura, to whom he offered his first role in a feature film, but there have also been frequent appearances by Mario Casas and Carlos Areces, as they were the sorely missed Terele Pávez and Álex Angulo. Antonio de la Torre, Enrique Villén, Secun de la Rosa or Manuel Tallafé are also regulars in his films, often in very solid supporting roles. Jorge Guerricaechevarría has been his co-screenwriter in practically all his works. Some of these actors have also appeared in films produced but not directed by Álex de la Iglesia and, in the case of Macarena Gómez, she has been commonly seen in films he produced, including Gómez’s instant-cult prominent role in seasons 1 and 2 of HBO’s 30 monedas (“30 Coins”).
Books
In 1997 he published the novel Payasos en la lavadora (“Clowns in the Washing Machine”). In 2014 he published his second novel Recuérdame que te odie (“Remind me to hate you”).[14] In 2022 Norma editorial released Arte y ensayo, a compilation of essays on Álex de la Iglesia’s facet as a graphic artist.
