Born in Madrid, Spain, in 1950, his childhood was marked by the
republicanism of his family opposed to dictator Francisco Franco,
winner of the Spanish civil war. He spent his childhood in schools run
by republican teachers where he received a liberal education. In the
seventies he got a degree in history and worked for years as a literary
critic. Interested by cinema he wrote some screenplays. Some of then
were adapted in the mid-eighties. Those films were thrillers involving
strong female characters. For "Baton Rouge" and "A solas contigo" both
starred by spanish actress Victoria Abril he was nominated for best
original screenplay by the Spanish Academy.
In 1990 he was assistant to director Pedro Almodovar in the shooting of
"Atame" played by Spanish stars Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril.
Thanks to his reputation as screenwriter and the support of Victoria
Abril he was able to set up his first film as director: "Nadie hablara
de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto". It became the greatest hit of
spanish cinema at its release in 1995. In the Festival de San Sebastian
that movie won several awards (including best actress). "Nadie hablara
de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto" also won 8 awards from the Spanish
academy (including best film, best new director, and best actress).
Inspired by filmmakers like Martin Scorsese or Paul Schrader, "Nadie
hablará de nosotras ..." stunned audiences and critics by its violence
and by the dark story of redemption of Gloria Duque, the main character
of the movie.
In spite of the success of his first movie, Diaz Yanes spent a few
years trying to make a new picture, titled "Madrid Sur", a
science-fiction movie set up in the capital of Spain, but was unable to
make it due to financial problems.
In 2001, he was able to feature together the two most international
spanish actresses in his second movie "Sin noticias de Dios" a
fantastic comedy that received 11 nominations for the Spanish Academy
awards (including best picture and director) but disappointed many of
the fans of his first movie.
In March 2006, he will started the shooting of his third movie "Capitán
Alatriste", an adaptation of Arturo Perez Reverte's best-seller.
Starred by LOTR's star Viggo Mortensen it tells the story of Alatriste
a pessimistic Spanish soldier that will have to survive in the
dangerous and decadent Spain of the XVIIth century.
