Benito Zambrano, Adopted Son of The Province of Granada

The filmmaker from Seville shot his Iberian western “Intemperie”(2019) in the beautiful landscapes of the Geopark

On 30 November, the Provincial Council of Granada will award the Honours and Distinctions 2022 prizes, with which the institution recognises every year to people, professional careers, groups, associations and institutions that work, each in their own field, for a better society. At the gala, the painter Juan Vida and the flamenco dancer Fuensanta ‘La Moneta’ will be named “Favourite Sons of the province”, as well as the scientist María José Sánchez Pérez, the teacher Margarita Birriel, the cyclist Carlos Rodríguez and the footballer José María Callejón, among others who will also receive awards.

In this edition, the “Adopted Son of the Province of Granada” award was also given to the director and scriptwriter Benito Zambrano, who filmed his movie “Intemperie” in the singular and beautiful landscapes of the Granada Geopark, a post-war western set in Spain in the 1940s, based on the novel of the same name by Jesús Carrasco, which deals with the friendship that emerges between a boy who has run away from his village (Jaime López) and a shepherd (Luis Tosar).

Co-produced by Morena Films, Movistar+, TVE, Áralan Films and Ukbar Filmes, the film was shot entirely in the province of Granada during the summer of 2018 in various locations in the municipalities of Orce, Galera, Huéscar and Puebla de Don Fadrique. It received two Goya Awards, for Best Adapted Screenplay (Benito Zambrano, Daniel and Pablo Remón) and Best Original Song (Javier Ruibal), among a total of 5 nominations.

In the opinion of the First Vice-President and Provincial Deputy for Culture and Historical Memory, Fátima Gómez, «The landscape of the Geopark is another protagonist of “Intemperie”, and its filming meant a fantastic showcase for the northern part of the province, a boost for the creation of the cinema office of the Provincial Council “Film in Granada” and for the arrival of important shootings in our province, such as “House of the Dragon”, “Society Of The Snow” by Bayona or “Tobacco Barns” by Rocío Mesa, among others”.

Benito Zambrano

Benito Zambrano Tejero was born in Lebrija (Seville) in 1965. He studied Dramatic Art at the Theatre Institute of Seville and in the eighties he started shooting his first short films. Later, he worked as a camera operator at Canal Sur Televisión and graduated as a scriptwriter at the International Film and Television School in Santiago de Los Baños (Cuba).

He made his film debut with the feature film “Solas” (1999), produced by Antonio Pérez for Maestranza Films, a drama that won five Goya awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best New Director, Best New Actress for Ana Fernández, Best New Actor for Carlos Álvarez-Novoa and Best Supporting Actress for María Galiana. It is considered as the foundational work of the new Andalusian cinema.

After directing the TV miniseries “Padre coraje” (Antena 3, 2002), starring Juan Diego, he returned to cinema with “Habana Blues” (2005), a story set in Cuba starring two young musicians from the Havana who try to leave the Caribbean island looking for prosperity in Spain. It had four Goya nominations and won the awards for best original music and best editing.

With his third film “La voz dormida” (2011), an adaptation of the book of the same name by Dulce Chacón that focused on testimonies of women on the Republican side in post-war times, he won three Goya awards – supporting actress, Ana Wagener, new actress, María León and original song – out of nine nominations, and the Silver Shell for best actress at the San Sebastian International Film Festival for María León. 

After “Intemperie” (2019), Zambrano has shot “Pan de limón con semillas de amapola” (2021), based on the novel of the same name by Cristina Campos, and “El salto” (2023), a film about the conflict at the Melilla fence.