Acclaimed Spanish director Carlos Saura, passed away on Friday at the age of 91, according to the Spanish film academy .
“He died today at his home at the age of 91, surrounded by his loved ones,” the academy wrote on Twitter, describing him as “one of the most important filmmakers in the history of Spanish cinema”.”Carlos Saura has left us, a fundamental figure in Spanish culture,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.”His talent is and will always be part of the cultural heritage of our history… We say goodbye to the director of imagination but his cinema remains,” added the socialist leader.
The Spanish royal family also paid their respects.”His cinema will never die. Goodbye Carlos Saura,” the Royal Household tweeted, along with a photo showing the filmmaker chatting with the king and queen. 
Carlos was born on January 4, 1932 in the northeastern town of Huesca, Saura was known for his “never-ending activity” and “love for his craft, which continued until the end,” with his latest film hitting Spanish cinemas just a week ago, it said.He died just a day before he was to have been awarded an honorary Goya, Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars, for his decades-long career which was to have been presented at the 37th Goya Awards ceremony in the southern city of Seville.He hit the global spotlight in the 1960s with his critiques of Franco’s dictatorship.
In his early years, Saura focused on the evils of society, first winning international recognition with “The Hunt” (1966), a critique of the regime of dictator Francisco Franco which won the Berlin Film Festival’s second-highest award.”With Carlos Saura, a very important part of the history of Spanish cinema is dying. He leaves behind him an indispensable work for deep reflection on the behaviour of the human being. Rest in peace my friend,” actor Antonio Banderas said.
Married several times and the father of several children, Saura also had a relationship with his muse Geraldine Chaplin, with whom he had a child.
