Spain's most exportable filmtalent, led by Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz,are going back to their roots for their most recent productions.

Cruz has signed on to star oppositeAdrien Brody in English-language bullfighting biopic Manolete, whichbegins shooting on March 21 in Cordoba, Seville and Madrid.

Meanwhile, Banderas began filming in his hometown of Malaga on Nov 21for his second film as a director, the Spanish-language The Way Of The English (El Camino De Los Ingleses).

"I feel a little guilty fornot having collaborated with Spanish cinema in recent years," Banderas recently said about the 16 years he has spentworking in the US.

In contrast, Cruz's agentKatrina Bayonas said: "Neither of us has the sensethat she left and came back or that she abandoned Spanish cinema. Penelope hasalways been interested in working in Spain and never wavered on this." Theactress is also said to be negotiating future projects in Spain as well.

Other Hispanic actors anddirectors who have to juggle work in Spain with offers from Hollywood include JavierBardem (Collateral),who just wrapped Milos Forman's Spain-shot Goya's Ghosts with Nathalie Portman; Paz Vega(Spanglish),who is now shooting Ray Loriga's fanciful biopic Teresa and is awaiting the release ofVicente Aranda's English-language epic The White Knight; and Mexican film-makerGuillermo del Toro (Hellboy),who has set up shop in Spain and is now in post-production on his Civil War-setPan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno).

"Penelope doesn't pick filmsaccording to whether they are international or national," Bayonasadded. "She is interested in character-driven scripts with good roles."

Manolete, from writer-director Menno Meyjes, is set inthe 1940s when matador Manuel Rodriguez Sanchez was at his apex. Cruz will playhis lover, Lupe Sino. The project, a Lolafilmsproduction, is expected to have a budget upwards of Euros 20m.

The film will come justmonths after Cruz wrapped Pedro Almodovar's Volver in Spain;she also starred in Breck Eisner's Sahara, a minority Spanish co-productionthat shot partially in Spain last year. These were her first films on home turfsince 2001's Don't Tempt Me (Sin Noticias De Dios).

Banderas has described TheWay Of The English as "a return to my land,Malaga, and a return to the 1970s." That, and reuniting with crew members likeart director Javier Fernandez or his TieMe Up! Tie Me Down! co-star Victoria Abril, "infuses me with the desire to work.

"The experience on Crazy In Alabamawas tough," he added in reference to his first film as a director, made in theUS in 1999. "I had to communicate in a different language not my own. Now, it'sas if they'd given me a Ferrari."

That Ferrari is a 1970scoming-of-age drama starring a cast of unknown actors selected from over 1,500boys who auditioned. The Euros 5m co-production between Banderas'sown Green Moon Producciones and Sogecineis sold internationally by Sogepaq.

"I am ready for my profession to become myhobby again," Banderas said. "Zorro I obviously had to do for a thousand reasons, but I wouldlike to do more things in Spain, both as a director and an actor." He is tryingto jumpstart the construction of a theatre and acting school in Malaga and saidhe also has plans to produce local films through Green Moon's Malaga offices.

Still, Cruz and Banderas both will continue with one foot on either side ofthe Atlantic and, especially in Cruz's case, elsewhere in Europe: she is currentlyshooting in the UK on Jake Paltrow's (brother of Gwyneth)The Good Night.

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