This thorough account of the life and films of the Spanish-Basque
filmmaker Julio Medem is the first book in English on the
internationally renowned writer-director of Vacas, La ardilla roja (Red
Squirrel), Tierra, Los amantes del Círculo Polar (Lovers of the Arctic
Circle), Lucía y el sexo (Sex and Lucía), La pelota vasca: la piel
contra la piedra (Basque Ball) and Caótica Ana (Chaotic Ana),
Initial chapters explore Medem's childhood, adolescence and education
and examine his earliest short films and critical writings against a
background of a dramatically changing Spain. Later chapters provide
accounts of the genesis, production and release of Medem's challenging
and sensual films, which feed into complex but lucid analyses of their
meanings, both political and personal, in which Stone draws on
traditions and innovations in Basque art, Spanish cinema and European
philosophy to create a complete and provocative portrait of Medem and
his work.