25/09/2013 - Gracia Querejeta’s film, winner at the last Malaga Film Festival, imposed itself in front of Alacrán enamorado, La gran familia española and Canibal.

Once again, an outsider takes the lead: 15 Years + 1 Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gracia Querejeta
film profile] by Gracia Querejeta will represent Spain in the race for the nominations for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. The film won in front of three other candidates: Alacrán enamorado [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Santiago A. Zannou, La gran familia española [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo and Cannibal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Manuel Martín Cuenca
film profile] by Manuel Martín Cuenca.

15 Year + 1 Day was presented last Spring at the Malaga Film Festival, where it won the Golden Biznaga for Best Film and the Critics’ Prize. This title, scripted by Querejeta and Santos Mercero, tells the story of the difficult relationship between young Jon (Arón Piper) and his mother (Maribel Verdú), who decides to send him in the south for a while, to stay with his grandfather (Tito Valverde).

The film was released in theatres on June 7, distributed by Universal, with results similar to other films (notably Spanish films, but not only), that is slightly over 380,000 euros in revenues and 58,000 spectators.

The film’s producer, Gerardo Herrera, knows his way around the Oscars: in 2010, the precious award was given to one of his productions, The Secret in Their Eyes [+see also:
trailer
making of
Interview Juan José Campanella [IT]
Interview Ricardo Darín [IT]
Interview Soledad Villemin [IT]
film profile] by Argentinean director Juan José Campanella.

What comes next is in the hands of the Academy in Hollywood, which will announce the 5 nominees on January 16. The last time a Spanish film arrived in the last round dates back to 2004 and The Sea Inside [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alejandro Amenabar ended up winning the Oscar.