Agustí Villaronga, director of the unforgettable Pa negre, dies at 69

The Mallorcan filmmaker Agustí Villaronga He died early this Sunday at the age of 69 in Barcelona, ​​the Acadèmia del Cinema Català reported in a statement. The Mallorcan filmmaker has died the victim of a long illness.

Among the most outstanding films of Villaronga (Palma de Mallorca, 1953) is ‘Pa negre’ (2010), ‘Incerta Glòria’ (2017) and ‘El ventre del mar’ (2021) and it is expected that his last film, ‘Loli Tormenta’, a comedy starring Susi Sánchez, can reach the public this 2023. Villaronga collected the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts on December 1, 2022.

The Mallorcan filmmaker leaves behind an important film legacy beyond the award-winning Pa negre (2010). His vocation came to him as a child, but before directing he was also a screenwriter, actor and documentary filmmaker. His career began in acting, in the company of Núria Espert with which he represented Yerma, by Federico García Lorca, in the 70s. Then he entered the cinema, in the artistic direction and the making of spots and shorts.

In 1986 he directed the disturbing Behind the glass, with Günter Meisner y Marisa Paredes, which told the story of the last days of a Nazi who abused hundreds of children. His second length was the child of the moon (1989), with Maribel Martín and Lucía Bosé, which was selected at Cannes and nominated for several Goyas.

After a long hiatus, at the end of the 90s he returned with La frecuencia del terror, with María Barranco, Terele Pávez and Vicky Peña, selected at the Berlin Festival. later came The sea (2000), drama about homosexuality starring Roger Casamajor and Bruno Bergonzini.

His consecration came in 2010 with Bye black (2010), a critical and public success, about the postwar period in inland Catalonia, with Francesc Colomer, Nora Navas and Roger Casamajor. It swept the Goyas, and Navas collected the award for best actress in San Sebastián.

In 2015 he shot in Cuba The King of Havana Based on the novel by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez. In 2017 he adapted for the cinema uncertain glory, by Joan Sales. And in 2021 she won the Biznaga de Oro de Oro at the Malaga Festival with The belly of the sea, its last movie.