Catalan director J.A. Bayona nominated for European Film Awards

'Society of the Snow,' the latest film from Catalan director J.A. Bayona, has been nominated for the European Film Awards. 

The nomination comes just one week on from the announcement that Bayona's survival thriller will represent Spain at the Oscars. 

The European Film Awards will take place on December 9 in Berlin, Germany, with 'Society of the Snow' one of 40 films competing for the awards. 

The film tells the story of what has been called the Miracle of the Andes, where over a dozen passengers on Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 survived for 72 days in the Valle de las Lágrimas valley between Chile and Argentina in October 1972 after their plane crashed. Out of the 45 passengers and crew on the flight, 33 survived initially, and 16 of them were able to make it back home. 

The movie was presented at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, where the director received a 10 minute standing ovation. 

Bayona, well known for his previous feature films such as 'The Impossible,' 'A Monster Calls,' and 'The Orphanage,' tells the story of the "desire to survive" against a world that has completely abandoned them, as he told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) ahead of the movie's premiere in Venice. 

Making the movie was no easy task, with filming taking place in the Catalan city of Terrassa, in Spain's Sierra Nevada mountains, and in the Andes. 

Listen to the podcast below, including an interview with Bayona on the red carpet at the 2023 Gaudí Awards.