' () is a Spanish prime-time anthology

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 pe ...

television series that narrates some of the most lurid crimes that occurred in the late 19th and 20th centuries in Spain. Produced by

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

and directed by renowned film directors, its three seasons and fourteen episodes were broadcast on La Primera of Televisión Española between 1985 and 2010. An additional story, initially intended as an episode of the series, was theatrically released as a standalone feature film titled '' Lovers'' in 1991.

Premise

Created and produced by Pedro Costa for Televisión Española, each of the series' episodes is directed by a renowned film director who was invited to recount a true crime in 16 mm film format. Each standalone story stars a different ensemble cast of well-known actors of the time. The series, only authorized for audiences over eighteen years old, caused a great impact in Spain due to the crudeness of the crimes.

Episodes

''La huella del crimen 1''

''La huella del crimen 2''

''Lovers''

'' Lovers'' was initially intended as the last episode of the second season to be titled ''Los Amantes de Tetuán'', but its director

Vicente Aranda Vicente Aranda Ezquerra (; 9 November 1926 – 26 May 2015) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. Due to his refined and personal style, he was one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a founding member ...

proposed, and Televisión Española agreed, to expand the script and turn it into a feature film for its theatrical release. The film accounts a crime committed by a couple living in the district of Tetuán de las Victorias in Madrid whose tragic outcome took place in La Canal, near

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

in 1949. Starring

Victoria Abril Victoria Mérida Rojas (born 4 July 1959), better known as Victoria Abril, is a Spanish film actress and singer based in France. She is possibly best known to international audiences for her performance in the film ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' by ...

Jorge Sanz Jorge Sanz Miranda (born 26 August 1969) is a Spanish actor and one of the most prominent actors of the Spanish cinema since the 1980s. He is known to international audiences for his roles in the films: '' Amantes'' (1991) by director Vicente Ara ...

and

Maribel Verdú María Isabel Verdú Rollán (; born 2 October 1970) is a Spanish actress. Some of her film credits include performances in '' Lovers'', ''Belle Époque'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Pan's Labyrinth'', '' The Blind Sunflowers'' and ''Snow Whi ...

, it was theatrically released on 12 April 1991. Among many accolades received, the film won the

Goya Award for Best Film The Goya Award for Best Picture ( es, Premio Goya a la mejor película) is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. The category was first awarded in 1986 to Fernando Fernán Gómez's drama film ''Voyage to Nowhere''. Sever ...

and Aranda won the

Goya Award for Best Director The Goya Award for Best Director (Spanish: ''Premio Goya a la mejor dirección'') is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards. The category has been presented ever since the first edition of the Goya Awards. Fernando Fernán ...

at the

6th Goya Awards The 6th Goya Awards were presented in Madrid, Spain 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 th ...

. The film entered competition at the

41st Berlin International Film Festival The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1991. The festival opened with ''Uranus'' by Claude Berri. The Golden Bear was awarded to Italian film '' La casa del sorriso'' directed by Marco Ferreri. The ret ...

where Abril won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

''La huella del crimen 3''

Accolades

Seminci

''La huella del crimen'' was chosen television series of the year by the

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

in 1985. The six episodes of the first season were screened in their film version during the thirtieth edition of the festival and round tables were held with the directors of each of the episodes.

FIPA

Fotogramas de Plata

Notes

References

External links

''La huella del crimen''
at

RTVE Play RTVE Play (often stylized as rtve play) is the over-the-top media service provided by the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. It was launched in Spain on 22 June 2021, replacing the old catalogue 'RTVE a la carta', created in turn in 2008. History ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:huella del crimen, La La 1 (Spanish TV channel) network series 1985 Spanish television series debuts 2010 Spanish television series endings Spanish anthology television series Spanish crime television series True crime television series