15/02/2010

Cell 211 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Monzón
film profile] yesterday confirmed itself as the major winner of 2009, the most acclaimed and most accoladed Spanish film. Last night, it fulfilled predictions as the major favourite at the Goya Awards ceremony, picking up Best Film, Best Director for Daniel Monzón and Best Actor for Luis Tosar. It nabbed a total of eight gongs, including Best Supporting Actress (Marta Etrura), Best Male Newcomer (Alberto Annamm), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Sound.

Meanwhile, in the technical categories, Alejandro Amenábar’s Agora [+see also:
trailer
film profile] swept up almost all the prizes, taking home no fewer than six Goyas (Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Art Director, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up/Hair and Best Special Effects), as well as a seventh for Best Original Screenplay.

Thanks to her outstanding performance in Me, Too [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Lola Dueñas won the Best Leading Actress Goya, which was a tough contest against other nominees, including Penélope Cruz (Broken Embraces [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile]), Rachel Weisz (Agora) and Maribel Verdú (Tetro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

Other noteworthy prize-winners included composer Alberto Iglesias, who won his eighth Goya (which he can display alongside his two EFA awards) for the score to Broken Embraces; Mar Coll, who continues to reap awards for Three Days with the Family [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (which a few days ago was the major winner at the Catalan Film Awards – see news), this time scooping the Goya for Best New Director; and Javier Recio García’s The Lady and the Reaper, which triumphed in the Best Animated Short category, the same category in which it will compete for an Oscar in a few weeks’ time.

At what was to be Cell 211 and Agora’s big night, neither The Dancer and the Thief [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (not one of its nine nominations resulted in an award), Gordos [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
Interview with Daniel Sánchez-Arévalo,…
film profile] (just one Goya: Best Supporting Actor for Raúl Arévalo), nor 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] (two awards, Best Female Newcomer for Soledad Villamil, despite her 20-year-long career in Argentina, and Best Latin American Film) managed to make a big impression on the Academy.

The ceremony, held as always in Madrid, left many memorable moments in the minds of the audience. But two in particular stand out. The first is the charismatic Academy president Álex de la Iglesia’s heartfelt call for “humility”. The Basque director, who is fully succeeding in his pledge to bring the institution and Spanish cinema closer to audiences, reminded those present that filmmakers, “over and above their role as artists, are workers”.

The second, the big surprise of the evening, was the unexpected appearance of Pedro Almodóvar to present the Best Film Award. The audience gave him a resounding ovation, aware that this symbolic act sealed the reconciliation of the most international of Spanish directors, often more celebrated abroad than at home, with the Academy. So there are presidents who perform miracles.

Full list of prize-winners:
Best Film:
Cell 211
Best Director:
Daniel Monzón for Cell 211
Best Debut Director:
Mar Coll for Three Days with the Family
Best Original Screenplay:
Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil for Ágora
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Jorge Gerricaechevarría and Daniel Monzón for Cell 211
Best Original Score:
Alberto Iglesias for Broken Embrances
Best Original Song:
”Yo También” by Guille Milkyway for Me Too
Best Actor:
Luis Tosar for Cell 211
Best Actress:
Lola Dueñas for Me Too
Best Supporting Actor:
Raúl Arévalo for Gordos
Best Supporting Actress:
Marta Etura for Cell 211
Best Male Newcomer:
Alberto Ammann for Cell 211
Best Female Newcomer:
Soledad Villamil for The Secret in Their Eyes
Best Production Design:
José Luis Escolar for Ágora
Best Cinematography:
Xavi Giménez for Ágora
Best Editing:
Mapa Pastor for Cell 211
Best Art Director:
Guy Hendrix Dyas for Ágora
Best Costume Design:
Gabriella Pescucci for Ágora
Best Make-Up/Hair:
Jan Sewell and Suzanne Stokes-Munton for Ágora
Best Sound:
Sergio Burmann, Jaime Fernández and Carlos Faruolo for Cell 211
Best Special Effects:
Chris Reynolds and Félix Bergés for Ágora
Best Animated Feature:
Planet 51 [+see also:
trailer
film profile]
Best Documentary:
Garbo, the Man Who Saved the World [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ikiru Films
Best Hispanic American Film:
The Secret in Their Eyes by Juan José Campanella (Argentina)
Best European Film:
Slumdog Millonaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danny Boyle
film profile] by Danny Boyle (UK)
Best Short Fiction Fiction:
Dime Que Yo by Mateo Gil
Best Short Documentary:
Flores de Ruanda by David Muñoz López
Best Animated Short Film:
The Lady and the Reaper by Javier Recio Gracia
Honorary Goya to Antonio Mercero