Rafael Azcona Fernández (24 October 1926 – 24 March 2008) was a Spanish

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

who worked with some of the best Spanish and international filmmakers. Azcona won five

Goya Awards The Goya Awards () are Spain's main national annual film awards. They are presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The first ceremony was held in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Ar ...

during his career, including a

lifetime achievement award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

in 1998. He was born in the northern Spanish city

Logroño Logroño ( , , ) is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. Located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, primarily in the right (South) bank of the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of pa ...

on 24 October 1926. Azcona initially began his career writing for humor magazines. He became known as a screenwriter when he penned the

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

for the film, ''

El Pisito ''El Pisito'' is a 1959 Spanish black comedy film directed by Marco Ferreri. The Spanish Ministry of Culture forced the producers to sign the film as co-directed by Spaniard Isidoro M. Ferry. It was co-written by famous Spanish screenwriter Ra ...

'' (''The Little Apartment''), which was based on his own

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

. The 1959 film was directed by Italian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Marco Ferreri Marco Ferreri (11 May 1928 – 9 May 1997) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, who began his career in the 1950s directing three films in Spain, followed by 24 Italian films before his death in 1997. He is considered one of t ...

. Azcona teamed up with director

Fernando Trueba Fernando Rodríguez Trueba (born 18 January 1955), known as Fernando Trueba, is a Spanish filmmaker, writer, producer and book editor. Career Between 1974 and 1979, Trueba worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper '' El Paí ...

in “

Belle Époque The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...

,” which won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for best foreign film in 1994. He collaborated with other Spanish directors including Luis Garcia Berlanga, Jose Luis Cuerda,

José Luis García Sánchez José Luis García Sánchez (born 22 September 1941) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed 30 films since 1968. He wrote for the 1973 film '' Habla, mudita'', which was entered into the 23rd Berlin Internation ...

Pedro Olea Pedro Olea (30 June 1938, Bilbao) is a Spanish screenwriter, film producer and film director. His films '' A House Without Boundaries'' (1972) and '' Akelarre'' (1984) entered into the 22nd and the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. His ...

, and

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (4 January 1932 – 10 February 2023) was a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. With Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be among Spain's great filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career th ...

. Azcona was also awarded the

Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts The Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts () is awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featurin ...

in 1994. Rafael Azcona died at his home in

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, on 24 March 2008, at the age of 81.

Selected filmography as screenwriter

* 1959 : ''

El pisito ''El Pisito'' is a 1959 Spanish black comedy film directed by Marco Ferreri. The Spanish Ministry of Culture forced the producers to sign the film as co-directed by Spaniard Isidoro M. Ferry. It was co-written by famous Spanish screenwriter Ra ...

'' * 1959 : ''

Se vende un tranvía SE, Se, or Sé may refer to: Initialisms * Standard Edition (e.g. Java Platform, Standard Edition) * Special Edition * Second Edition (e.g. Windows 98 Second Edition) Arts and entertainment * ''Sé'' (album), by Lúnasa, 2006 * Se (instr ...

'' * 1960 : '' El cochecito'' * 1961 : '' Plácido'' * 1961 : ''

El secreto de los hombres azules EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

'' * 1962 : '' Mafioso'' * 1962 : '' Les Quatre vérités'' * 1963 : '' La Donna scimmia'' * 1963 : '' The Conjugal Bed (L'Ape regina)'' * 1963 : '' El Verdugo'' * 1964 : '' The Ape Woman'' * 1964 : '' Un rincón para querernos'' * 1964 : '' Controsesso'' * 1965 : ''

L'Uomo dei cinque palloni ''Break Up'' ( and also known as ''The Man with the Balloons'') is a 1965 Italian comedy film directed by Marco Ferreri. Plot A Milanese entrepreneur becomes obsessed with how much air a balloon can take before it breaks. His inability to contr ...

'' * 1965 : '' Oggi, domani, dopodomani'' * 1965 : '' Marcia nuziale'' * 1965 : '' Una Moglie americana'' * 1966 : '' L'estate'' * 1967 : '' Tuset Street'' * 1967 : '' Peppermint Frappé'' * 1967 : '' Las Pirañas'' * 1969 : '' La Madriguera'' * 1970 : '' ¡Vivan los novios!'' * 1970 : '' Las secretas intencions'' * 1970 : '' El Monumento'' * 1970 : '' El jardín de las delicias'' * 1971 : '' L'udienza'' * 1971 : '' El Ojo del huracán'' * 1971 : '' Un omicidio perfetto a termine di legge'' * 1972 : '' La Cera virgen'' * 1972 : '' Si può fare... amigo'' * 1972 : '' A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die'' * 1973 : ''

Tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

'' * 1973 : '' Ana y los lobos'' * 1974 : '' The Marriage Revolution'' * 1974 : '' Touche pas à la femme blanche'', (''Don't Touch The White Woman!'') * 1974 : '' Permettete, signora, che ami vostra figlia'' * 1974 : '' La prima Angélica'' * 1974 : '' Grandeur nature'' * 1975 : '' El poder del deseo'' * 1975 : '' Pim, pam, pum... ¡fuego!'' * 1976 : '' El Anacoreta'' * 1976 : '' La Dernière femme'' * 1977 : '' Mi hija Hildegart'' * 1978 : '' Un hombre llamado Flor de Otoño'' * 1978 : '' Ciao maschio'' * 1978 : * 1979 : '' La miel'' * 1979 : '' La familia, bien, gracias'' * 1981 : '' Patrimonio nacional'' * 1981 : '' 127 millones libres de impuestos'' * 1982 : '' Bésame, tonta'' * 1982 : '' Nacional III'' * 1983 : '' Don Chisciotte'' (TV) * 1983 : '' Los desastres de la guerra'' (TV) * 1985 : '' La vaquilla'' * 1985 : '' La corte de Faraón'' * 1986 : '' Hay que deshacer la casa'' * 1986 : '' El año de las luces'' * 1987 : '' El bosque animado'' * 1987 : '' El pecador impecable'' * 1987 : '' Moros y cristianos'' * 1988 : '' Come sono buoni i bianchi'' * 1988 : ''

Pasodoble Pasodoble ( Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This often was accompanied by ...

'' * 1988 : '' Soldadito español'' * 1989 : '' El vuelo de la paloma'' * 1989 : '' Blood and Sand (1989 film)'' * 1990 : '' La Mujer de tu vida: La mujer infiel'' (TV) * 1990 : '' Ay Carmela'' * 1992 : '' Chechu y familia'' * 1992 : ''

'' * 1993 : '' Tirano Banderas'' * 1994 : '' La Mujer de tu vida 2: La mujer cualquiera'' (TV) * 1995 : '' Suspiros de España'' * 1995 : '' El Rey del río'' * 1995 : '' El Seductor'' * 1996 : '' Gran Slalom'' * 1997 : '' Tranvía a la Malvarrosa'' * 1997 : '' En brazos de la mujer madura'' * 1997 : '' Siempre hay un camino a la derecha'' * 1998 : '' Una pareja perfecta'' * 1998 : '' La niña de tus ojos'' * 1999 : '' La lengua de las mariposas'' * 2000 : '' Adiós con el corazón'' * 2001 : '' El paraíso ya no es lo que era'' * 2001 : '' Son de mar'' * 2002 : '' La marcha verde'' * 2004 : ''

Franky Banderas Frankie is a diminutive of Frank, Francis, Francisco, Francine, and Francesca. People *Frankie (musician), indie pop musician from Los Angeles, California *Frankie Abernathy (1981–2007), American MTV Real World cast member * Frankie Adams (born ...

'' * 2004 : '' María querida'' * 2008 : '' Los girasoles ciegos''

References

External links

*
The Telegraph: Rafael Azcona: 'Belle Epoque' screenwriter

The Times: Rafael Azcona, Spanish screenwriter who won an Oscar for Belle Epoque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azcona, Rafael 1926 births 2008 deaths People from Logroño Spanish male screenwriters Spanish novelists Spanish male novelists Deaths from lung cancer in Spain Honorary Goya Award winners 20th-century Spanish novelists 20th-century Spanish male writers 20th-century Spanish screenwriters 21st-century Spanish screenwriters