UIMP Award for Cinematography

The Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo grants the annual honorary UIMP Award for Cinematography as an institutional distinction for the standout career of national and international cinematographers who have most contributed to the promotion and knowledge of cinematography, and enriching cinematographic heritage.

The candidates for the award are proposed by the UIMP Vice-Chancellor. The award is granted by the Governing Council after a taking a secret ballot and attaining an absolute majority.

The accolade itself comprises a reproduction of a symbolic object from the world of cinema and a diploma issued by the Vice-Chancellor of the UIMP stating the year when the award was granted.

2022 Award: José Sacristán

2ZA6MU7FLJDF5L2I4WWYOYR3N4

José Sacristán (Chinchón, 1937) is a film, stage and television actor who has had a renowned wide-ranging career. He is one of the most recognisable faces and voices in Spanish cinema from the last six decades, receiving an Honorary Goya from the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the National Cinematography Award. He won the Silver Shell at the 1978 San Sebastián Film Festival for Un hombre llamado Flor de Otoño (A Man Called Autumn Flower). He has also been awarded the following prizes: Honorary Award from the Actors Guild, the Honorary Feroz, five Silver Fotogramas, the National Theatre Award, the Ceres Award from the Mérida Festival, a Golden TP, an Ondas Award and a Silver Condor from Argentina. Sacristán has worked with some of the top Spanish film-makers, including the late Luis García Berlanga and Fernando Fernán-Gómez, as well as current figures such as Carlos Vermut, Isaki Lacuesta and Javier Rebollo. He has also been behind the camera as director on Soldados de plomo (Lead Soldiers), Cara de acelga (Silver-Beet Face) and Yo me bajo en la próxima, ¿y usted? (I Get Off at the Next Stop, What About You?).

2021 Award: Gracia Querejeta

Gracia Querejeta

Daughter of famed producer Elías Querejeta, Gracia Querejeta is a renowned film director who has worked across cinema and television.

She debuted as an actor at the age of 13 in ‘Las palabras de Max’ by Emilio Martínez Lázaro. This was her springboard into the world of cinematography. She quickly began working as a director’s assistant.

A graduate in geography and history from the Complutense University in Madrid, she took supplementary training in dance. She co-wrote and directed her first short film, ‘Tres en la marca’, in 1987, winning the Arriaga Theatre Award at the Bilbao Festival. From there, she had a brilliant career as a screenwriter and director of works including: ‘Invisibles’ (2020) ‘Siete mesas de billar francés’ (2017) and ‘Tanto monta’ (2017) (where she acted as director and screenwriter); ‘Txintxorro’ (2016) and ‘Cordelias’ (2014) (short films she has directed); and television series such as ‘AnaTramel’ (2020) and ‘Madres’ (2019).

Throughout her career, Querejeta has received many awards, including: the Silver Shell for best screenplay at the 2007 San Sebastián Festival for ‘Siete mesas de billar francés’; the Golden Biznaga at the Malaga Film Festival for best film in 2015 for ‘15 años y un día’; and awards for best film, script, director, music and production from the Cinema Writers Circle in 2004 for ‘Héctor’.

 

2019 Award: Francisco Delgado

francisco delgado

Born in Lanzarote (Canary Islands), Francisco studied at the Barcelona Institute for Theatre and went on to study on the Motley Theatre Design Course in London (1993-1994). During his time living in London, he worked in the West End and collaborated on Spanish productions as an assistant to Lala Huete and Sonia Grande.

His debut as principal designer came on ‘La comunidad’ by Álex de la Iglesia, who he also worked with on ‘800 balas’. He collaborated with Pedro Almodóvar on ‘La mala educación’.

He made the leap into international cinema alongside Alejandro González Iñárritu with ‘Biutiful’. He also collaborated with Jean Paul Gaultier for Almodóvar’s ‘La piel que habito’.

Paco Delgado was nominated a Goya award in 2011 for ‘Balada triste de trompeta’ by Álex de la Iglesia and in 2021 for Almodóvar’s ‘La piel que habito’.

He has won two Goyas, for ‘Blancanieves’ (2012) and ‘Las brujas de Zugarramurdi’ (2013). He has also been nominated for international awards including Best Costume Design at the Academy Awards for his work on ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘The Danish Girl’ (2016) by Tom Hooper.

 

2018 Award: Isabel Coixet

coixet

Isabel Coixet Castillo (San Adrián de Besós, 1960). Isabel Coixet began making home movies when she was given an 8mm camera for her first communion. After graduating in history with a specialisation in the 18th and 19th centuries from the University of Barcelona, she worked in advertising and copywriting. She won many awards for her adverts and finally set up her own production company in 2000—Miss Wasabi Films. She debuted as a screenwriter and director in 1988 with ‘Demasiado viejo para morir joven’, a film that was nominated at the Goya Awards for Best New Director.

She made her first English-language film in 1996 entitled ‘Things I Never Told You’. An emotional drama with a cast of US actors led by Lili Taylor and Andrew McCarthy, the film led to her second nomination at the Goya Awards, this time for Best Original Screenplay. Coixet then collaborated with a French production company and in 1998 returned to Spanish screenwriting with an historical adventure story—‘A los que aman’.

International success arrived in 2003 with the intimate drama, ‘My Life Without Me’, based on a short story by Nancy Kincaid, where the young Canadian actress Sarah Polley played Ann, a young mother who decides to conceal her terminal illness from her family. The Spanish-Canadian co-production was praised at the Berlin International Film Festival. Coixet worked with Polley again on a new film, ‘The Secret Life of Words’ in 2005, also starring Tim Robbins and Javier Cámara. The film won four Goya awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Production and Best Screenplay.

 

2017 Award: José Luis Alcaine

alcaine

José Luis Alcaine Escaño (Tetuán, 1938) is a director of photography and a pioneer in the use of florescent tubes as principal lighting in the 1970s. He is a member of the San Fernando Academy of Fine Art. His immense film work has led to five Goya Awards for best photography, from a total of 18 nominations. 

His fifty-two years in the profession have enabled him to see the evolution of cinema photography and technological development: ‘In the early days, you filmed, then came lighting, then control with 35mm monitors and, finally, digital photography.’ ‘Everything is definitely better now’, states the lighting pioneer in using reflections from umbrellas or fluorescent lights: ‘Despite the heavy criticism received for these innovations, today all film productions use them.’

 

Previous editions

 

YEAR EDITION   AWARD-WINNER  
 2016  VIII  Miguel Marías       Film critic
 2015  VII   Joséfina Molina            Filmmaker
 2014  VI  Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón  Filmmaker
 2013  V  José Luis Garci Filmmaker
 2012  IV  Alberto Iglesias              Musician and composer
 2011  III  Carlos Saura     Director
 2010 II   José Luis Borau President of SGAE
 2009  I Marisa Paredes  Actress