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Juanma Bajo Ulloa ranks as one of the more offbeat figures within the already diverse crop of young filmmakers comprising Spain's new cinema of the 1990s. Though he began making 8 mm films and videos in the mid-'80s, Bajo Ulloa first gained international recognition with his feature film debut, the sumptuous Alas de Mariposa (aka Butterfly Wings, 1991), for which the young Basque filmmaker employed over 1,000 individual shots. The film won a prize at the 1991 San Sebastián Film Festival. This and subsequent Bajo Ulloa efforts show a focus on form that almost supersedes narrative, and in the eyes of some critics, his work borders on pretentiousness. Prior to founding his own production company, Gastiezko Zinema, in 1984, Bajo Ulloa took a few courses in filmmaking. His sophomore effort, La Madre Muerta (aka The Dead Mother), earned high marks for its stylishness. Bajo Ulloa entered Pedro Almodovar territory in 1997 with his fast-paced, surrealistic comedy Airbag (1997) and gained international recognition.