Catalan movie ‘Pa negre’ to represent Spain at the Oscars

Madrid (ACN).- For the first time ever, a movie in Catalan will represent Spain at the Oscars. The Cinema Academy of Spain adopted an historical decision by choosing to send a movie not shot in Spanish but in Catalan to the Oscars, which is a co-official language in some parts of Spain, where around 12 million people live. The Academy’s members decided that the best movie produced in Spain to be sent to the Oscars was the Catalan film ‘Pa negre’(meaning ‘Black Bread’ in English), directed by Agustí Villaronga and produced by Isona Passola. The movie was produced and shot in Catalonia, and it pictures a rural drama in the misery of the years after the Spanish Civil War, portraying the moral devastation caused by the war. The film is an adaptation of a novel by the Catalan author Emili Teixidor, with the same title. ‘Pa negre’ had already been pre-selected two weeks ago by 1,115 Academy members, together with Pedro Almodóvar’s latest movie ‘La piel que habito’ ('The Skin I Live In') and Benito Zambrano’s ‘La voz dormida’ (The Sleeping Voice), among 97 films that presented their candidature. ‘Pa negre’ had many chances of being chosen, as the movie triumphed last February at the Spanish cinema awards, the Premios Goya (the Goya Awards), winning nine prizes including best direction, best movie and best adapted screenplay. However, the fact of it being shot entirely in Catalan and the level of the competitors, made it difficult to predict if the movie was to finally represent Spain at the world’s top awards. ‘Pa negre’ will be premiered in Los Angeles on October 13^thand will start a race that will pass its next milestone on January 24^th next, when the list of five candidate movies to receive the best ‘Foreign Language Film Award’ will be announced. Representing Spain at the Oscars is already a great achievement at recognising the linguistic and cultural diversity within the Spanish State. Being on the short list for February’s ceremony would be a great step to unveil an entire filmography and literature to the world, which still remains completely unknown by many.

The Spanish Academy of Cinema chose the movie in Catalan ‘Pa negre’ to represent Spain at the Oscars. In addition, it also decided that the movie will also represent Spain at the Ariel awards, the Mexican Academy of the Arts and Cinematographic Sciences’ Awards. On Wednesday morning, minutes after the news had been announced, the name of Agustí Villaronga was a trending topic in Twitter at world level.

‘Pa negre’ pictures the dark years after the Spanish Civil War in a Catalan rural community

‘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 hardships, 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 those who won the war and those supporting them.

‘Pa negre’ was the absolute winner of the last Spanish Cinema Academy’s awards

‘Pa negre’ was the great winner of the last Spanish cinema awards, the Goya Awards. The movie won nine prizes and had been nominated in 14 categories. Both the 14 nominations and the nine 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 six 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 the 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.

The next moves

Now that the movie has been selected to represent Spain, it needs to go through a three-month process with movies from the rest of the world, each one representing the cinema academy of their state. During the next three months, two committees, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, will review all the films presented. On January 24^th, the short list with the five nominated to the Oscars for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ will be known. The final winner will be known on February 26^th at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre, during the ceremony of the 84^th edition of the Academy Awards, the Oscars.

Reactions in Catalonia

The producer of ‘Pa negre’, Isona Passola, stated that the movie “has normalised Catalan cinema”. Passola explained that “the Catalan culture has still one pending subject, which is the cinema”. Movies in Catalan will only represent 3% of all movies exhibited in Catalonia in 2011, this includes movies dubbed in Catalan. Films shot directly in Catalan only represent 1%. Passola thanked the Spanish Academy for the opportunity to represent Spain at the Oscars. She told CNA that ‘Pa negre’ may be liked by American critics, since “it talks about things that everybody can understand, because humiliation, losers, desperation about where to hold oneself when everything has been lost; all those are universal feelings”. Passola stressed that the film recently started its European circuit, being shown successfully in 40 movie theatres in France, for instance.

The Catalan Minister for Culture, Ferran Mascarell, expressed his satisfaction for the Spanish Academy’s decision. Mascarell emphasised that today’s “great news” is “encouraging for Catalan cinema and culture”. Mascarell said that Catalan cinema is achieving “milestones that only a few months earlier were unthinkable”. Finally, the Spanish Minister for Culture, Ángeles González Sinde, celebrated the news and believed that Hollywood Academy members will appreciate the quality of the film.