Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura dies at 91

Carlos Saura, Spain's celebrated filmmaker whose career spanned over seven decades during which he earned three Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film has died. He was 91.

Spain's Cinema Academy said Saura died Friday a day before he was to receive an honorary Goya award for his prolific career. Saura was a popular director among arthouse cinema enthusiasts. He had earned international recognition for his 1965 movie ``La Caza" (The Hunt) which was awarded the Silver Bear at the International Berlin Film Festival.

He later earned another two Silver Bear awards for his work. Saura's three films that earned Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film included ``Mama cumple 100 anos" in 1979, ''Carmen" in 1984 and "Tango" in 1999.

Saura focused in recent years on traditional music, producing several movies featuring flamenco singers and dancers, as well as fado or jota, the traditional song and dance of his birthplace, the Aragon region. Saura was active until his final days.