Catalan co-production 'The Good Boss' is most-awarded film at 2022 Goya Awards

'The Good Boss' (El buen patron), co-produced by Catalonia's Mediapro with the support of public broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya, was the most successful film at Saturday night's 2022 Goya Awards, Spain's equivalent of the Oscars, held in Valencia.

With six awards including best film, best director, and best original screenplay, director Fernando León de Aranoa's workplace satire starring Javier Bardem had already made history with 20 nominations.

Bardem, who won best actor at the 36^th edition of the awards ceremony for his role in the film, his sixth Goya, thanked his wife Penélope Cruz: "Penélope, the woman I love, respect, admire and celebrate every day. I love you a lot."

Producer Jaume Roures, the CEO of Mediapro, meanwhile, gave a speech in which he called for "25% in Catalan" – an allusion to the recent sentence forcing the Catalan public school system to teach 25% of lessons in Spanish.

'Outlaws' (Las leyes de la frontera), an adaptation of the Javier Cercas novel about a Girona teen who befriends two criminals and which is also a 'quinqui' favorite at the upcoming Catalan Gaudí Awards, won five of the six awards it was up for, including best adapted screenplay and best new actor.  

The only one it did not win was best song, which went to Maria José Llergo for 'Te espera el mar' in the film 'Mediterráneo'. The movie tells the true story of the humanitarian organization Open Arms, founded in Badalona, which rescues migrants at sea. 

'Libertad', a coming-of-age story filmed in Catalonia's Costa Brava, won best supporting actress for Nora Navas' performance. Clara Roquet, from the town of Malla near Vic, won best new director.  

José Sacristán received the Honorary Goya Award, while Australian actor Cate Blanchett won the first-ever International Goya. 

The ceremony featured a tribute to Valencian director and screenwriter Luis García Berlanga, who died in 2010, as well as musical performances from the likes of C. Tangana and Rita Payés as well as Joaquín Sabina.