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. He is the father of

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

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, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

. By the age of 18 he was making his debut in the

Spanish first division The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

's team, Real Sociedad (his position was

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

; his brother José María also played, as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

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

Madrid 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 ...

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 (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 ...

(13 films),

Víctor Erice Víctor Erice Aras (; born 30 June 1940) is a Spanish film director. He is best known for his first 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' ...

(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 fo ...

(3 films). He produced Mr. Saura's ''

La Prima Angélica ''Cousin Angelica'' () is a 1974 Spanish drama film directed by Carlos Saura. Starring José Luis López Vázquez as a middle-aged man whose memories of his childhood during the Spanish Civil War make him reenact his past as the mature man he i ...

'' (1973) and ''

Cría Cuervos ''Cría cuervos'' ("Raise Ravens", also written ''Cría cuervos…'') is a 1976 Spanish psychological drama film written and directed by Carlos Saura and produced by Elías Querejeta. The film is an allegorical drama about an eight-year-old gir ...

'' (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 Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, and ''

Mama Turns 100 ''Mama Turns 100'' () 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 Language F ...

'' (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'' () is a 1973 Spanish absurdist comedy-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 twisted family. The film is enco ...

'' (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 (film), Las bicicletas son para el verano''. Life and career Chávarri's family b ...

Emilio Martínez Lázaro Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (disambiguation) * Emilios (disambiguation) Emilios, or Aimilios, (G ...

, Víctor Erice and his own daughter,

Personal life

The most significant relationship of Querejeta's life was with

Amparo Muñoz Maria de Amparo Muñoz y Quesada (21 June 1954 – 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 Miss Universe titleholder to ...

. He met Amparo on the set of ''

Mamá cumple cien años ''Mama Turns 100'' () 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 Language F ...

''. 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).

Notes

References

External links

His life and Film Company
* * 1934 births 2013 deaths People from Hernani Basque writers Spanish film producers Spanish male screenwriters Spanish documentary filmmakers Real Sociedad footballers Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Deportivo Alavés players SD Eibar footballers Segunda División players Footballers from Gipuzkoa 20th-century Spanish sportsmen {{Spain-film-bio-stub

Biography

Personal life

Notes

References

Further reading

External links