Emilio Ruiz Barrachina (born 26 June 1963) is a Spanish poet, writer and film director.
Ruiz Barrachina was born on 26 June 1963 in Madrid. In 1997, after living for 10 years in Latin America as a journalist, including for being a correspondent for BBC Latin America, he returned to Spain.
His first novel, Calamarà(1998), has been republished in various editions. This would be followed up by A la sombra de los Sueños (2000), adapted to film; El arco de la luna (2001), winner of the X Premio Internacional de Novela Luis Berenguer; the essay Brujos, reyes e inquisidores (2003); the novel No te olvides de matarme (2004), which in 2005 made its debut as a theatrical adaption; the literary essay Tinta y Piedra. Calaceite, el pueblo donde convivieron los autores del Boom (2005); and Le ordeno a usted que me quiera (2006).
In 2007, Ruiz Barrachina won the Rubén DarÃÂo International Award of Poetry with the book Arroyo. This would be followed up by the book La venta del paraÃÂso (2006), translated to various languages and was adapted to film shortly thereafter. Along with, he has directed documentaries for film and television such as Luz, espacio y creación, Tinta y Piedra, Niñas Soldado, Desminadoras en Sudán, Emigrantes o Lorca, and El mar deja de moverse (about the death of poet Federico GarcÃÂa Lorca, and which has won several international awards).
In 2008, he released the documentaries Orson Welles y Goya and La España de la Copla. In 2010, he directed the controversial film El DiscÃÂpulo. This would be followed up by the musical film Morente in 2011, which was considered the posthumous legacy of singer Enrique Morente. In 2012, Ruiz Barrachina launched La venta del paraÃÂso, which won Best Original Story award at the New York City International Film Festival.
He wrote, in 2014, the poetry collection "La Huella Eterna", which won him the Premio Internacional de PoesÃÂa Sial Pigmalión, given for this work and his entire literary career. In 2015, Ruiz Barrachina released the film El violÃÂn de piedra, about rural flight, and starred Carlos ÃÂlvarez-Nóvoa. In its presentation at the Festival Internacional de Cine y Arquitectura de Oviedo (Ficarq, at Teatro Campoamor) and won the awards for Best Director, Best Main Actor, and Best Music.
In 2017, he premiered an adaptation of Yerma by Federico GarcÃÂa Lorca, which made a version in English in the modern day, and was filmed between Madrid, Buitrago del Lozoya, and London. In 2018, Ruiz Barrachina directed and released an adaptation of the theatrical piece La Casa de Bernarda Alba, again by GarcÃÂa Lorca, under the title of Bernarda and starring Assumpta Serna, Victoria Abril, and Miriam DÃÂaz Aroca.
In 2020, between Paris and New York, he directed the film Broken Poet, starring Elliott Murphy, Bruce Springsteen, and Joana Preiss. That same year, he released the feature-length film, El abuelo Victor. Victor Manuel para Imprescindibles on TVE about VÃÂctor Manuel.
In 2021, Ruiz Barrachina would also premiere Tristesse, filmed in Asturias. It as a winner at the New York City International Film Festival. There, the film won the awards the Best Film, Best Director, Best Main Actor (Enrique Simón), Best Supporting Actress (Rebecca Arrosse), and Best Photography (David Ramos).
In 2022, he premiered Frente al Silencio, a film that has won prizes at various international festivals. This film links the Holocaust with flamenco and the discrimination at the beginning of the 21st century that still exists against race, gender, and condition. It won, among others, the prizes for Best Documentary, Best Director, and Special Jury Prize at the Adolph Zukor International Film Festival; Best Documentary at the New York City International Film Festival, and Best Narrative Film at the Artist Forum International Film Festival New York.
In July 2023, Ruiz Barrachina directed the theatre play La Comedia Sin TÃÂtulo by GarcÃÂa Lorca. Based on the unfinished work, he accomplished the drama, weaving it with the realiza la dramaturgia hilándolo con la attention and the subsequent assassination of Lorca based on the studies of Miguel Caballero. La Comedia Sin TÃÂtulo was premiered on 7 and 8 July at the Teatro Campoamor de Oviedo.
In December 2017, Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Madrid sought two years in prison against Barrachina and those who were responsible for three movie theatres for inflating ticket office data and be able to access a grant for more than half a million euros for the filmÃÂ El discÃÂpulo. The office contended that Barrachina artificially inflated the number of moviegoers in the implicated theatres in order to obtain a grant from the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports. The accused had pretended, according to what the Prosecutor's Office wrote, that 341,284 Euros had been collected, about 11,000 Euros more than the minimum needed to receive the help.
Barrachina, on 15 August 2011, solicited the ICAA for general and complementary assistance on the amortization of feature-length films for 2010 for El discÃÂpulo, which starred Juanjo Puigcorbé, among others, for 576,107.06 Euros, which was given in November 2011 and paid by December.
Barrachina was acquitted on 4 May 2021, as, according to the sentencing, there never was a crime nor fundamental reasoning for the litigation.