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As one of Spain's most powerful and prolific producers, Andres Vicente Gomez has played an important role in revitalizing his nation's cinema, bringing it out of the international art houses and into the mainstream. Gomez became involved with film in the '60s as a film distributor. Though Franco was still in control of Spain, Gomez was somehow able to circumvent the dictator's rules and smuggle in many foreign films. In the early '70s he teamed up with Orson Welles. Gomez produced his first film, La Loba y la Paloma (The Wolf and the Dove) in 1974. By the mid-'80s, Gomez had produced a number of films. During the 1990s, Gomez was behind over 30 films for established directors such as Bigas Luna, Carlos Saura, Richard Lester, Pedro Almodovar, and up-and-comers such as Alex de la Iglesia. Between 1990 and 1997, his films were produced through Lola Films. In 1993, Gomez produced Belle Epoque, which earned an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.