Camino Barcelona Blog

Hello everybody,

Today is such a wonderful day! The sun is shining and the birds are singing! I’m in a good mood because we’ll have St. Valentin tomorrow! I hope spring will come soon to Barcelona! What do you do on such nice days like today? (apart from coming to Camino Barcelona, I mean)

Now I would like to tell you something about a very special event that took place at the end of January this year. The Spanish film world went wild because the best Spanish actors, producers and directors were awarded with the most popular film prizes: Los Premios Goya!

During this ceremony, los Goyas are granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain. These prizes are considered as the equivalent to the American Oscars. The awards were established in 1987 and the first awards ceremony took place on March 16, 1987 at the Teatro Lope de Vega, Madrid. The ceremony continues to take place annually and the awards are given to films produced during the previous year.

At the moment there are 28 existing categories of the prizes. Apart from the usual categories such as best direction, production, screenplay, special effects and so on, also the best films in Spanish from other countries are awarded.

The award itself is a small bronze bust of Francisco de Goya. But how was Goya? Well, Francisco de Goya was one of the most important painters in Spain. He created famous pictures like The 3rd May of 1808, The Nude and The Clothed Maya or Saturn Devouring his Son.

At the 22nd edition of Los Goyas in Madrid, the drama film La Soledad by Jaime Rosales was astonishingly granted as the best film. The movie is about two women, who fight against the loneliness. It was only few weeks in the cinemas and attracted only approximately 40,000 viewers, which is not a lot. Rosales also received the prize to best director. One of his actors, José Luis Torrijo, was distinguished as the best new generation actor.

The favorite horror film “El orfanato“ (The Orphanage) received seven prizes altogether, being the most prized film of the night. The first work of Juan Antonio Bayona hit in like a bomb with more than four million viewers. Not only a Hollywood remake is already planned but also a stage version! You can’t miss this film! The civil war drama “Las trece rosas” (The Thirteen Roses) from Emilio Martínez Lázaro received four prizes despite 14 nominations. What a pity, because it is a very good film too!

As the best female actor, Maribel Verdú received a Goya for her role in “Siete Mesas de Billar Francés” (Seven French Pool Tables). The prize for best leading actor went to Alberto San Juan. He plays a kind of anti-hero in “Bajo las estrellas” (Under the Stars).

Did you see any of these films? Well, I hope this information was helpful for you so that you know which Spanish films you can’t miss next time you go to the cinema!

Greetings, Daniel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Spanish Culture - Cultura española, Spanish news, Daniel's Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.