Uribe, a director, screenwriter and producer, was born in El Salvador but is a native of Spain and grew up in Madrid. Early on, he became famous for his controversial social and political portraits of Basques and their fight for independence. He got a degree in journalism in 1972 and afterwards studied film directing. After graduating in 1974, he founded his own production company Zeppo Films started making films about Basques. His first film was El proceso de Burgos (The Burgos Trial, 1979) which caused a lot of controversy because it dealt with the topic of military trials to members of the ETA during Franco’s regime. His next two films, La fuga de Segovia (Escape from Segovia, 1981) and La muerte de Mikel (Michael\'s Death, 1984) also dealt with Basque themes. His most successful film is El rey pasmado (The Dumbfounded King, 1991). Días contados (Numbered Days, 1994), which once again deals with Basques, was pronounced the most powerful Spanish drama of the 1990s. His other films are La luna negra (The Black Moon, 1990), Bwana (1996), Haika mutil (1997), Plenilunio (1999) and El viaje de Carol (Carol\'s Journey, 2002).