Catalan film ‘Pa negre’ pre-selected to represent Spain at the Oscars

Madrid (ACN).- The Catalan spoken film ‘Pa negre’ (meaning ‘Black Bread’ in English) might represent Spain at the next Oscars. The film directed by Agustí Villaronga and produced in Catalonia has been pre-selected by the Spanish Film Academy to be presented at the Oscars together with the latest movie by Pedro Almodóvar ‘La piel que habito’ ('The Skin I Live In') and Benito Zambrano’s ‘La voz dormida’ (The Sleeping Voice). The President of the Spanish Film Academy Enrique González announced the pre-selected movies this Wednesday. 1,115 Academy members voted between August 29^th and September 12^th among the 97 films that presented their candidature. There will be a second round of voting among the three pre-selected movies and the movie that will definitely represent Spain at the Oscars will be known on September 28^th. Spain’s candidate to the Oscars will be premiered in Los Angeles on October 13^th. ‘Pa negre’ has a fighting chance of being chosen, as the movie triumphed last February at the Spanish cinema awards, the Premios Goya (the Goya Awards), winning 9 prizes including best direction, best movie and best adapted screenplay. It would be the first time ever that a film spoken in Catalan would be sent to the Oscar Awards in the foreign language film category.

'Pa Negre' is an adaptation of the Emili Teixidor’s novel. It pictures the dark years after the Spanish Civil War in an isolated rural community in Catalonia, exploring the repression during the Fascist dictatorship and the post-war penuries, while a mysterious crime is investigated. The title, ‘Pa negre’ which literally means ‘black bread’ refers to the only type of bread available after the war, made out of the cheapest flour. It symbolises the poverty in which the villagers lived, as opposed to the war winners and those supporting them.

‘Pa negre’ was the great winner of the last Spanish cinema awards, the Goya Awards. The movie won 9 prizes and had been nominated in 14 categories. Both the 14 nominations and the 9 awards including best movie was a great surprise as the film is shot entirely in Catalan. In fact its director, Agustí Villaronga and its producer Isona Passola have since put emphasis on Spain’s plurality and the existence of other languages beyond the Spanish, such as Catalan. 'Pa negre' was a big hit in the box office, in Catalonia but also throughout Spain.

Besides best movie, best director and best screenplay, ‘Pa negre’ won 6 other Goya awards. In the categories for best acting, 'Pa Negre' was awarded ‘best actress’ for Nora Navas, who also won the 'Silver Shell' award at San Sebastian Film Festival. Laia Marull surpassed the other three nominees in the category of best supporting Actress, adding a third Goya award to her collection. The youngsters Francesc Colomer and Marina Comas who both started their acting careers in 'Pa Negre' also succeeded in featuring in the categories of best new actor and actress. 'Pa Negre’ also won the award for the best director of photography going to Antonio Riestra and the best art director for Ana Alvargonzález.