Clara Bilbao

Clara Bilbao
Clara Bilbao at the 2019 Goya Awards
Born (1971-02-23) February 23, 1971
Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
Occupations
  • Costume designer
  • film director
Years active1994–present
Known forThree Goya Awards for Best Costume Design

Clara Bilbao (born 23 February 1971, in Bilbao) is a Spanish costume designer and film director who has won the Goya Award for Best Costume Design three times: for Blackthorn (2012), Nadie quiere la noche (2016), and La sombra de la ley (2019), making her one of the most decorated costume designers in the history of the Spanish film industry, with a career encompassing over fifty productions in cinema and television across three decades.[1]

Early life and education

Clara Bilbao was born on 23 February 1971 in Bilbao. The daughter of a seamstress, she developed an early interest in garment making.[2] She studied at the Centro Superior de Diseño de Moda de Madrid (CSDMM), part of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), where she specialised in Scenic Costume Design.[3]

Career

Costume design

Bilbao entered the audiovisual industry in 1994, making her debut as a costume designer on the short film El tren de las ocho in 1996. Her first feature film credit was Quince (1998), directed by Francisco Rodríguez Fernández.[4]

Her most celebrated work as a costume designer includes Blackthorn (2011), a western directed by Mateo Gil starring Sam Shepard and Stephen Rea, which imagines Butch Cassidy surviving into old age in Bolivia; Nadie quiere la noche (2015), directed by Isabel Coixet and set in the Arctic, starring Juliette Binoche and Gabriel Byrne; and La sombra de la ley (2018), a period thriller set in 1920s Barcelona directed by Dani de la Torre. All three productions earned her the Goya Award for Best Costume Design.[5] La sombra de la ley also earned her the Premio Mestre Mateo for costume design from the Academia Galega do Audiovisual.[6]

Bilbao received a fourth Goya nomination for Maixabel (2021), directed by Icíar Bollaín, a film that received fourteen Goya nominations overall.[7] She also designed costumes for Soy Nevenka (2024), a Movistar+ miniseries directed by Bollaín.[8]

In 2024, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Alicante awarded Bilbao the Fashion Cinema Award in recognition of her three-decade career, and the Ourense Film Festival (OUFF) presented her with its Premio Especial OUFF 2024 for the totality of her professional work.[9]

Television

Bilbao has been a costume designer for high-profile Spanish television productions. Her television credits include La zona (Movistar+, 2017), the HBO adaptation of Fernando Aramburu's novel Patria (2020), Los favoritos de Midas (Netflix, 2020), La Fortuna (Movistar+, 2021–2022, directed by Alejandro Amenábar), and El zorro (Amazon Prime Video, 2024). Her work on Patria required reconstructing the fashion of several decades of Basque Country life, a challenge she described as building a visual archive of an era all Spaniards remembered.[10]

Directing career

Bilbao made her directorial debut with the short film Prohibido arrojar cadáveres a la basura (2014), a dystopian science-fiction piece starring María Botto, set in a near-future Spain in which citizens can no longer afford funerals. The film won the Jury Prize for Best Direction at the 2015 Festival de Cine de Terror y Fantástico de Peligros in Granada.[11] Actor Antonio de la Torre, upon seeing the film at a festival, contacted Bilbao to express his interest in collaborating if she ever made a feature.[12] Her second short, Brexit (2018), is a comedy about Spaniards living in London during the Brexit process.[13]

Her debut feature film, Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres (2024), is based on the 1947 novel by Raymond Queneau, with a screenplay by Miguel Barros. It stars Carmen Machi and Antonio de la Torre, alongside Luis Tosar, Julián Villagrán, Isak Férriz, and Óscar Ladoire. Filming began in late March 2023 in Galicia.[14] The film had its world premiere at the 27th Málaga Film Festival on 3 March 2024,[15][16] where it won the Premio ASECAN for Best First Film. Prior to its general release, the film held a pre-screening at the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España in Madrid.[17] It was released in Spanish cinemas on 15 March 2024, distributed by Filmax, and was featured in Vogue España as one of the notable openings of the season.[18] The film received a positive critical reception, with Fotogramas praising Carmen Machi's performance as formidable and dangerous.[19]

In interviews, Bilbao stated she had no intention of being dogmatic in the film's approach to its themes, describing it as an irreverent take on the Spanish Civil War era that prioritised character and dark humour over ideology.[20] Bilbao also reflected on the broader challenges facing film directors today, noting that the complexity of the role had grown considerably in the contemporary industry.[21][22] Bilbao was subsequently named the honorary godmother (madrina) of the RTVE cinema programme Días de Cine in recognition of her debut.[23]

Filmography

As costume designer (selected)

Year Title Director Medium
1998 Quince Francisco Rodríguez Fernández Film
2006 La distancia Iñaki Dorronsoro Film
2010 Planes para mañana Juana Macías Film
2011 Blackthorn Mateo Gil Film
2015 Nadie quiere la noche Isabel Coixet Film
2016 Cuerpo de élite Joaquín Mazón Film
2016 Proyecto Lázaro Mateo Gil Film
2017 La zona Jorge Dorado Television
2018 La sombra de la ley Dani de la Torre Film
2018 La enfermedad del domingo Ramón Salazar Film
2020 Patria Félix Viscarret Television
2020 Los favoritos de Midas Mateo Gil Television
2021 Maixabel Icíar Bollaín Film
2022 La Fortuna Alejandro Amenábar Television
2023 Que nadie duerma Antonio Mercero Jr. Film
2024 Soy Nevenka Icíar Bollaín Television
2024 El zorro Various Television

As director

Year Title Medium
2014 Prohibido arrojar cadáveres a la basura Short film
2018 Brexit Short film
2024 Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres Feature film

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Film Result Ref
2012 Goya Award for Best Costume Design Best Costume Design Blackthorn Won [24]
2016 Goya Award for Best Costume Design Best Costume Design Nadie quiere la noche Won [25]
2019 Goya Award for Best Costume Design Best Costume Design La sombra de la ley Won [26]
2019 Premio Mestre Mateo Best Costume Design La sombra de la ley Won [27]
2022 Goya Award for Best Costume Design Best Costume Design Maixabel Nominated [28]
2024 Premio ASECAN Best First Film (as director) Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres Won [29]
2024 Fashion Cinema Award (Festival de Alicante) Career honour — Won [30]
2024 Premio Especial OUFF Career honour — Won [31]

References

  1. ^ "Clara Bilbao – Perfil de profesora". Barreira Arte y Diseño (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Clara Bilbao ganadora del Goya al Mejor Diseño de Vestuario de 2019". E-Politécnica – Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Clara Bilbao, diseñadora de vestuario: "La mugre siempre es cinematográfica"". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 14 September 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  4. ^ "Clara Bilbao: "Nadie tiene dudas cuando un actor o un director de fotografía quiere dirigir"". Kinótico (in Spanish). 27 November 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  5. ^ "El festival homenajeará a Clara Bilbao con el Premio Fashion Cinema". Festival Internacional de Cine de Alicante (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  6. ^ "La sombra de la ley, gran triunfadora en los XVII Premios Mestre Mateo". Academia Galega do Audiovisual (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Maixabel, entre las favoritas a los Goya con 14 candidaturas". Deia (in Spanish). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  8. ^ "Comienza el rodaje de Soy Nevenka de Icíar Bollaín". Disney Press España (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Clara Bilbao, diseñadora de tres Goya, recibirá el Premio Especial OUFF". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 10 September 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  10. ^ "Clara Bilbao sobre cómo creó el vestuario de 'Patria': la ropa tenía que contar que pasaban los años". El País S Moda (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  11. ^ "La bilbaína Clara Bilbao, ganadora de tres Premios Goya, se estrena en la dirección de largometrajes". EiTB (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  12. ^ Elías, Javier. "Antonio de la Torre: "He perdido la condición de pobre"". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  13. ^ "Brexit (2018)". Archivo del Cortometraje Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  14. ^ "Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres comienza el rodaje con Carmen Machi y Antonio de la Torre". RTVE (in Spanish). 30 March 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  15. ^ "Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres, un salto al vacío de Clara Bilbao". ABC (in Spanish). 3 March 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Clara Bilbao tiñe de humor valleinclanesco la Guerra Civil". El Mundo (in Spanish). 3 March 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  17. ^ "Asiste al preestreno de Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres". El País (in Spanish). 1 March 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  18. ^ "Clara Bilbao y 'Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres': el debut que no te puedes perder". Vogue España (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  19. ^ "Crítica de Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres: Carmen Machi, armada y peligrosa". Fotogramas (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  20. ^ "Clara Bilbao: 'Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres' no tiene intención de ser dogmática". RTVE (in Spanish). 6 March 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  21. ^ "La directora de cine hoy en día tiene muchísimo más complejo ser el banquero". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 27 June 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  22. ^ "Clara Bilbao: "Nadie tiene dudas cuando un actor o un director de fotografía quiere dirigir"". Kinótico (in Spanish). 27 November 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  23. ^ "La cineasta Clara Bilbao, madrina de Días de Cine". RTVE (in Spanish). 7 March 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  24. ^ "Palmarés Premios Goya 2012". EiTB (in Spanish). 20 February 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  25. ^ "Clara Bilbao: "Juliette Binoche me dijo que me iba a llevar el Goya"". RTVE (in Spanish). 10 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  26. ^ "La sombra de la ley y Trote triunfan en los Premios Mestre Mateo del cine gallego". Audiovisual451 (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  27. ^ "Los Goya hablarán euskera". Deia (in Spanish). 12 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  28. ^ "Maixabel candidata al Goya con mejor diseño de vestuario". Kulturklik – Gobierno Vasco (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  29. ^ "Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres, un salto al vacío de Clara Bilbao". El Correo (in Spanish). 3 March 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  30. ^ "El cine español del Festival de Málaga 2024". Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (in Spanish). 15 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  31. ^ "Clara Bilbao, diseñadora de tres Goya, recibirá el Premio Especial OUFF". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 10 September 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
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