All set for 16th Catalan Oscars amid international success of local talent

The 16th Gaudí prizes, that is, the equivalent of the Oscars in Catalonia, are all set to take place this Sunday evening in CCIB, in Barcelona's Fòrum area, amid a remarkable recent international success of local talent in the film industry.

On the one hand, filmmaker J.A. Bayona's 'Society of the Snow' has picked up two nominations at the Academy Awards, in the Best International Feature Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling categories.

The film, which tells the story of the survival of 16 passengers who were on board Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 after crashing in the Andes mountains, is also nominated in the Gaudí prizes this Sunday, only in the Best European Film category – it cannot compete in the rest because it has not been participated by Catalan firms in at least 20% of its total budget.

'Robot Dreams,' by Pablo Berger, is the other astonishing international success that will be present at the Gaudís with three nominations. It is a Catalan production and has been nominated for Best Animated Feature Film also at the Oscars.

Set in New York in the 1980s, the filmmaker transports viewers to a story that talks about loneliness, the fragility of relationships and the process of loss.

Good year for Catalan films for their quality and budgets

Yet, those who are set to win the biggest after walking through the 120 meter-long red carpet at the Gaudí prizes are 'Creatura,' by Elena Martín, with 15 nominations, and 'Saben aquel,' by David Trueba, with 13.

'Creatura' tackles the sexual awakening during childhood, while 'Saben aquell' tells the story of the famous Catalan late humorist Eugenio.

Judith Colell, the president of the host organization, the Catalan Film Academy, said a few days ago that this has been a good year "for the quality of the films, and a good year for Catalan cinema, with a significant increase in the number of films and their budgets."

She also said this has been a good year in terms of "presence and prizes at the most prestigious festivals in the world, with awards in Berlin, Cannes, Seminci in Valladolid or Hollywood's Independent Spirit Awards."

Apart from the nominees at the Oscars and 'Creatura', which won the Best European Film at Cannes' Directors Fortnight, '20,000 Species of Bees' won the Golden Biznaga for the Best Film and the Silver Bear at Berlinale for Sofía Otero as Best Actress – this Sunday the movie hopes to amass up to nine Gaudís. Isabel Coixet's 'Amor', with eight nominations, won the Silver Shell at San Sebastian International Film Festival for Hovik Keuchkerian as best actor.

Only 2.8% film sessions in Catalan, sector calls for action

The Gaudí prizes will take place just shortly after the Catalan News Agency (ACN) published some data revealing that only 2.8% of the sessions that took place during that period were either original or dubbed versions in Catalan, and these sessions accounted for only 2.1% of the total spectators that attended the cinemas between 2017 and 2021.

Also, those Catalan dubbed versions are mainly programmed in non-prime time: two out of three screenings (66.9%) were scheduled between 3pm and 7pm, while between 7pm and 1am the percentage drops to 22.7%.

Asked about the data, Colell said there is still "a lot of work to do" to get the audience used to watching films in Catalan. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, she also called for the "involvement" of cinemas and distributors.

Spain's culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, said to Rac1 radio station that improving the presence of Catalan will be a priority for his office. "We are totally committed to it," he said.

Urtasun added that he will work with the Catalan culture department to see how they can help improve the data.