Nuria Triana-Toribio is Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Kent, UK. Her research interests include Spanish film and film cultures, cultural studies, and popular cinema and culture. She is the author of Spanish National Cinema (2003), co-author of The Cinema of Álex de la Iglesia (2007) and co-editor of the Spanish and Latin Filmmakers series for Manchester University Press.

Nuria Triana Toribio's thorough biopsy of the Spanish Film Academy provides a lucid diagnosis of the condition of contemporary Spanish cinema and will enable vivid, challenging debate. Fascinating and hugely informative, this bracing book treats Spanish film cultures, both flowering and festering, as integral to the idea of Spanish cinema and is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand all the strategies that affect filmmaking in Spain.

• Acknowledgments.- Introduction.- 1. The House is Built of the Stones That Were Available.- 2. And the Winner Is.- 3. Being Different: Almodóvar and the Academia.- 4. Rogue Males, 'Bad' films and 'Bad' loyalties: Santiago Segura and Álex de la Iglesia.- 5. There's No Such Thing as a Weak Enemy.- 6. Transatlantic Academia.- Epilogue.- Notes.- Bibliography.- Index.