He has been the man behind the resurrection of and Faust (1926), by Murnau, masterpieces who returned in their hands for the new generations of cinephiles, or the great restorer of (1965), of Welles, to cite only two of his best and best known works. That the National Cinematographic and Audiovisual Heritage Reayra in Luciano Berriatúa (Madrid, 76 years) was only a matter of time and film justice, and in the 2025 edition of this award delivered by the Ministry, it has honored the legend that works with legends.
The jury has justified his decision “for his tireless, coherent and enthusiastic dedication to the recovery and dissemination of films and the documentary material that accompanies them.” In addition, he highlighted the development, throughout his life, of “an extensive and coherent professional career, dedicated to preservation, restoration, research, teaching and dissemination of film heritage, both Spanish and international.”
If Ana Marquesán obtained in past editions and in this 2025 a tireless, quiet worker has been rewarded, who also has international reputation. As the act adduces: “The work of Luciano Berriatúa for his constant effort and his commitment to the conservation of cinematographic and audiovisual heritage that has contributed significantly to the protection and dissemination of history and film culture.”
Since the 1990s, Berriatúa has been collaborating with different film files, from the Spanish Filmoteca and Filmoteca de Catalunya to the Murnau-Stiftung Foundation. For the Cineteca Catalan, he led a complex process, the only film directed by Josep Escobar, Zipi’s father and Zape, feature film that only black and white vestiges were left and that returned to color after eight years of work. And he is also the author of various books about his work (the one dedicated to Nosfer It is fundamental in the world literature on Murnau) and a professor who has taken care to pass the legacy to new generations, as currently performs in Córdoba and at the Elías Querejeta school.
Returning to his work in Nosferatu, Berriatú To its original state, including its dye in color, and that study, which carried a subtitle that perfectly summed up the original work, An erotic-associstic-spiritist-metaphysical film, He went beyond explaining the restoration, which wrapped Murnau’s horror film.
Within the Murnau Foundation, dedicated to caring and restoring the German film heritage, Berriatúa also headed another film challenge: Fritz Lang’s masterpiece, in 2003. The negative of this version was selected by UNESCO to be part of the world’s memory record, so it became the first to receive that honor.
