Elías Querejeta Gárate (27 October 1934 – 9 June 2013), also known as Elías Querejeta () and known in the Spanish film industry as "The Producer", was a Spanish screenwriter and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. He is the father of

Gracia Querejeta Gracia Querejeta Marín (; born 13 August 1962) is a Spanish filmmaker. Biography Born in Madrid in 1962, daughter to film producer Elías Querejeta and costume designer María del Carmen Marín. She studied Ancient History in the Universidad ...

Biography

Querejeta was born in

Hernani, Spain Hernani is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. The town sits on the left bank of the Urumea river. It is located at a distance of 9.2 km from San Sebastián. The municipality of Her ...

, and played soccer for

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

. By the age of 18 he was making his debut in the Spanish first division with

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

's team, Real Sociedad (his position was

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

; his brother José María also played, as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

). But his career in sports ended in 1959, when he moved to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

to set up his own film production company. He produced some of the best-known Spanish films of the 1960s and 1970s and most notably worked with

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career th ...

(13 films),

Víctor Erice Víctor Erice Aras (; born 30 June 1940) is a Spanish film director. He is best known for his two feature fiction films, ''The Spirit of the Beehive'' (1973), which many regard as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made, and '' El Sur'' (1983 ...

(2 films),

Montxo Armendáriz Montxo Armendariz (born as Juan Ramón Armendariz Barrios; 27 January 1949 in Olleta, Navarra, Spain)Torres, '' ''Diccionario Espasa Cine Español'' p. 83 is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. His film ''Las cartas de Alou'' won at the San ...

(4 times) and

Fernando León de Aranoa Fernando León de Aranoa (born 26 May 1968) is a Spanish screenwriter and film director. León de Aranoa entered the film industry as a screenwriter. He made his feature film directorial debut with '' Familia'', which won him the Goya Award for ...

(3 films). He produced Mr. Saura's '' La Prima Angélica'' (1973) and ''

Cría Cuervos ''Cría Cuervos'' (''Raise ravens'') is a 1976 Spanish drama film directed by Carlos Saura. The film is an allegorical drama about an eight-year-old girl dealing with loss. Highly acclaimed, it received the Special Jury Prize Award at the 1976 Can ...

'' (1975), which won special jury prizes at the 1973 and 1975 at the special prize of the jury at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, and ''

Mama Turns 100 ''Mamá cumple cien años'' is a 1979 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Carlos Saura. The film is a comedy sequel of the drama Ana and the Wolves directed by Saura in 1973. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Langua ...

'' (1979), which was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

at the

52nd Academy Awards The 52nd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1979 and took place on April 14, 1980, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p. ...

. "Mama Turns 100" was a sequel to Mr. Saura's ''

Ana and the Wolves ''Ana and the Wolves'' ( es, Ana y los lobos) is a 1973 Spanish drama film directed by Carlos Saura. Starring Geraldine Chaplin as a foreign governess who comes to an isolated house to take care of the children of a convoluted family. The fil ...

'' (1973), which Mr. Querejeta also produced. Querejeta gave wings to the careers of directors such as

Jaime Chávarri Jaime Chávarri (born 20 March 1943) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter, best known for his films ''El desencanto'' and ''Bicycles Are for the Summer, Las bicicletas son para el verano''. Life and career Chávarri comes from a prom ...

Emilio Martínez Lázaro Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio Piazza Memorial School, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (dis ...

, Víctor Erice and his own daughter,

Personal life

The most significant relationship of Querejeta's life was with

Amparo Muñoz Amparo Muñoz Quesada (Vélez-Málaga, 21 June 1954 – Málaga, 27 February 2011) was a Spanish actress, model and beauty queen who won the Miss Universe 1974 competition in Manila, Philippines, being the first and only Spaniard titleholder in ...

. He met Amparo on the set of ''

Mamá cumple cien años ''Mamá cumple cien años'' is a 1979 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Carlos Saura. The film is a comedy sequel of the drama Ana and the Wolves directed by Saura in 1973. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Langua ...

''. The relationship subsequently received much publicity. Querejeta remained married throughout their relationship; although he and his wife, ''Maria Carmen y Marin'' had been living separate lives, there was never an official split and neither party pursued a divorce. Muñoz did not interfere, and never fought for marriage, until her death in 2011. Querejeta later died in 2013 in

, Spain, aged 78.

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External links

His life and Film Company
* * 1934 births 2013 deaths People from Hernani Basque writers Spanish film producers Spanish male screenwriters Spanish male writers Spanish documentary filmmakers Real Sociedad footballers Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football midfielders La Liga players Deportivo Alavés players SD Eibar footballers Segunda División players Sportspeople from Gipuzkoa {{Spain-film-bio-stub

Biography

Personal life

Notes

References

Further reading

External links