04/02/2008

Solitary Fragments [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the second feature film by Jaime Rosales (see interview), picked up the two top awards – Best Film and Best Director – at last night’s Goyas ceremony.

The arthouse title, which uses the split screen technique to tell the daily dramas of five ordinary women from Madrid, had since its release been the critics’ darling, also winning over the members of the Spanish Film Academy despite competition from other strongly contenders, namely horror film The Orphanage [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and historical drama Las 13 rosas [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Although it failed to pick up Best Film, The Orphanage was nevertheless one of the big winners of the night with seven Goyas, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Executive Production and Best New Director Jose Antonio Bayona.

Las 13 rosas took home four Goyas, including Best Cinematography for Jose Luís Alcaine.

Siete mesas (de billar francés) won Maribel Verdú the Goya for Best Actress and veteran Amparo Baró Best Supporting Actress. Antonio San Juan won in the Best Actor category for his performance in Bajo las estrellas [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Félix Viscarret's directorial debut, which also triumphed in the Best Adapted Screenplay category.

This year, the Goya for Best European Film was eliminated with the argument that not one of the former winners had ever come to pick up their prize. Ironically, the Goya for the Best Foreign Film in the Spanish Language went to the Argentinean/French/Spanish co-production XXY [+see also:
trailer
film profile].