04/02/2019 - Pedro Almodóvar presented Javier Fesser’s comedy with the Spanish Film Academy’s award 30 years after the triumph of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at this very same event

Javier Fesser and members of his crew picking up the Goya Award for Best Film for Champions

On Saturday, at the Seville Exhibition and Conference Centre, the Spanish Academy of Film Arts and Sciences organised the 33^rd edition of the ceremony where it hands out its awards, the coveted Goyas. One of the biggest surprises on the night was that Champions [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Javier Fesser, a title that has enjoyed a great deal of mainstream success (having grossed €20 million so far), emerged triumphant as the best feature of 2018, given that it is a comedy, a genre that does not traditionally receive the official top prizes. In fact, it was Pedro Almodóvar, who 30 years ago pocketed the Goya Award for Best Film (but not Best Director, a fate shared by Fesser) for his magnificent Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, who handed out the trophy, accompanied by three of his actresses: Rossy de Palma, Loles León and Julieta Serrano. Incidentally, the latter actress is also among the cast of Pain & Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Banderas
Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile], the new film by the Manchegan director, which is set to be released in Spanish theatres on 22 March (see the trailer). A number of other thesps from Almodóvar’s eagerly awaited new opus (Pedro also picked up a Goya on Saturday night in his guise as a co-producer of the documentary The Silence of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Almudena Carracedo, Esther …
film profile]) also trod the red carpet: Penélope Cruz (nominated for Best Actress for the co-production with France and Italy Everybody Knows [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), singer Rosalía, Nora Navas (deputy vice-president of the Film Academy) and Susi Sánchez, who won the Goya Award for Best Actress for her heart-rending performance in Sunday’s Illness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramón Salazar
film profile].

Champions was crowned with three awards: Best Film, Best Song (composed by Coque Malla) and Best New Actor, for first-timer Jesús Vidal. But its most serious rival, the political thriller The Realm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Isabel P…
film profile] by Rodrigo Sorogoyen – co-produced with France – ended up with a bigger haul of Goyas: seven in total, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Galician Luis Zahera) and Best Lead Actor (Antonio de la Torre). Another film that stood out at the ceremony was Carmen & Lola [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arantxa Echevarría
film profile] by Arantxa Echevarría, which took home two statuettes: Best Supporting Actress (Carolina Yuste) and Best New Director. These movies – Champions, The Realm and Carmen & Lola, together with A Twelve-Year Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álvaro Brechner
film profile], which snagged the Goya for Best Adapted Screenplay – are all included in the catalogue of international sales agent Latido Films.

In the technical categories, victory was claimed by Gun City [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a film co-produced with France and directed by Dani de la Torre (Goya Award for Best Wardrobe Design, Cinematography and Art Direction); the co-production with Portugal, France and Belgium The Man Who Killed Don Duixote [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terry Gilliam
film profile] (Best Production Direction, and Hair and Make-up); and Superlópez [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which, as was widely expected, went home with the Goya Award for Best Special Effects.

At the ceremony, which was attended by Minister of Culture José Guirao, was watched by four million viewers on the channel TVE and paid tribute to the Honorary Goya Award winner, Chicho Ibáñez Serrador, Mariano Barroso – the president of the Film Academy – made use of his speech to voice his support for the coexistence of screens of all shapes and sizes so that audiences can always enjoy audiovisual talent, remembered his predecessor in the post, the late Yvonne Blake, and congratulated Rodrigo Sorogoyen for his nomination for the upcoming Oscars with his short film Mother (see the news).

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Film
Champions [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Javier Fesser

Best Director
Rodrigo Sorogoyen – The Realm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Isabel P…
film profile] (Spain/France)

Best Lead Actress 
Susi Sánchez – Sunday’s Illness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramón Salazar
film profile]

Best Lead Actor 
Antonio de la Torre – The Realm

Best Supporting Actress 
Carolina Yuste - Carmen & Lola [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arantxa Echevarría
film profile]

Best Supporting Actor
Luis Zahera – The Realm

Best New Actor 
Jesús Vidal – Champions

Best New Actress 
Eva Llorach – Quién te cantará [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Vermut
film profile] (Spain/France)

Best New Director 
Arantxa Echevarría – Carmen & Lola

Best Original Screenplay 
Isabel Peña and Rodrigo Sorogoyen – The Realm

Best Adapted Screenplay 
Álvaro Brechner – A Twelve-Year Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álvaro Brechner
film profile] (Spain/Argentina/France/Uruguay)

Best Original Score 
Olivier Arson – The Realm

Best Production Direction 
Yousaf Bokhari – The Man Who Killed Don Quixote [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terry Gilliam
film profile] (Spain/France/Belgium/Portugal)

Best Special Effects
Lluís Rivera and Laura Pedro – Superlópez [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Best Sound 
Roberto Fernández and Alfonso Raposo – The Realm

Best Wardrobe Design 
Clara Bilbao – Gun City [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Spain/France)

Best Original Song 
Este es el momento – Coque Malla (Champions)

Best Hair and Make-up 
Sylvie Imbert, Amparo Sánchez and Pablo Perona – The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Best Art Direction 
Juan Pedro de Gaspar – Gun City

Best Cinematography
Josu Incháustegui – Gun City

Best Editing 
Alberto del Campo – The Realm

Best European Film
Cold War [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile] – Pawel Pawlikowski (Poland/UK/France)

Best Animated Film
Another Day of Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Raul de la Fuente
film profile] – Damian Nenow and Raúl de la Fuente (Spain/Poland/Belgium/Germany/Hungary)

Best Documentary Film
The Silence of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Almudena Carracedo, Esther …
film profile] – Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar (Spain/USA)

Best Latin American Film 
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico/USA)

Best Short Fiction
Piggy – Carlota Pereda 

Best Short Documentary 
Gaza – Carlos Bover Martínez and Julio Pérez del Campo 

Best Animated Short 
Cazatalentos – José Herrera

Honorary Goya 
Narciso Ibáñez Serrador

(Translated from Spanish)