Испан режиссері және сценаристі Алехандро де ла Иглесия

Spanish film director and screenwriter

Alejandro "Álex" de la Iglesia Mendoza (born 4 December 1965) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, producer and former comic book artist. De la Iglesia's films combine grotesque and very dark elements such as death and murder: most of his works are considered dark comedies, but are also often considered to have horror and/or drama elements. All his films, with the notable exceptions of The Last Circus (2010) and As Luck Would Have It (2011), were written together with Jorge Guerricaechevarría.

Álex de la Iglesia was elected president of the Academy of Cinematograhic Arts of Spain on June 21, 2009, after presenting himself as candidate — together with Icíar Bollaín and Emilio A. Pina — to replace Ángeles González Sinde after her appointment as Minister of Culture. De la Iglesia’s main goals as the head of the national industry were to "bring back together at the Academy all the artists who left Spain or are far from the institution". With this, he was aiming at Pedro Almodóvar and his brother, Agustín Almodóvar, who left the organization in 2005 publicly disagreeing with the institution’s voting system. And also José Luis Garci as well, who left the academy in 1999 due to another controversy related with the voting procedures. The filmmaker from Bilbao was also committed to the fight against piracy. In his own words, he wanted to "defend the people who make a living from making films". On February 14, 2010, De la Iglesia gave his most celebrated speech as president of the Film Academy at the Goya Awards gala, recalling that it was necessary to create laws "that protect the coexistence of all sectors, and that also includes filmmaking". For this reason, the then president of the academy participated in the debate on the second final provision of the Sustainable Economy Law (known as the Sinde Wert Law) after it was rejected in the Congress on December 21, 2010. This text raised the possibility of closing Internet pages that violate copyright laws after the intervention of an Intellectual Property Commission, instead of just a judge or a magistrate.

Álex de la Iglesia's films usually feature actors and actresses he completely trusts and with whom he has worked before. The most prominent is Santiago Segura, to whom he offered his first role in a feature film, but there have also been frequent appearances by Mario Casas and Carlos Areces, as they were the sorely missed Terele Pávez and Álex Angulo. Antonio de la Torre, Enrique Villén, Secun de la Rosa or Manuel Tallafé are also regulars in his films, often in very solid supporting roles. Jorge Guerricaechevarría has been his co screenwriter in practically all his works. Some of these actors have also appeared in films produced but not directed by Álex de la Iglesia and, in the case of Macarena Gómez, she has been commonly seen in films he produced, including Gómez’s instant cult prominent role in seasons 1 and 2 of HBO’s 30 monedas (“30 Coins”).