Born in Madrid in 1922 and died in 2002, Juan Antonio Bardem was a Communist and an opponent of the Franco regime, who was imprisoned several times. Co-founder of the film journal Objectivo, he organised the 1955 Salamanca conversations that called for a realist Spanish cinema. His films Death of a Cyclist (1955) and Main Street (1956), a bleak study of provincial life, mix film noir with criticism of the Spanish middle class. Cyclist won the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes. He was the uncle of the actor Javier Bardem.
Filmography
- Comedians (1954)
- Death of a Cyclist (1955)
- Main Street (1956)
- Vengeance (1958)