Hollywood nominates two films produced by Catalan companies for the Oscars

Barcelona (ACN).- There has been plenty of good news for the Catalan film industry. Two films have been nominated for the Oscars in the main categories, ‘Midnight in Paris’ and ‘Chico y Rita’, both produced by Catalan companies. Wody Allen’s film ‘Midnight in Paris’ was produced by the Catalan Public Television Broadcaster ‘Televisió de Catalunya’ and by the Barcelona-based company Mediapro. Furthermore, Mediapro’s President, Jaume Roures, is one of the films producers. ‘Midnight in Paris has been nominated for Best Movie, Best Director, Best Art Direction and Best Adapted Script; in this later category it has already won a Golden Globe. The other Catalan-produced film is ‘Chico y Rita’, directed by Fernando Trueba, Tono Errando and Javier Mariscal. ‘Chico and Rita’ (its English title) has been nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. The movie was produced in Mariscal’s Barcelona studio. Mariscal, who became world famous for designing Barcelona Olympics mascot ‘Cobi’, has his studio in the Catalan capital, in Barcelona’s technology district 22@. Furthermore, ‘Chico y Rita’ was also produced by the Catalan Public Television Broadcaster. The ceremony of the 84^th Academy Awards will take place on February 26^th at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

Some days ago, it was already announced that the Catalan movie ‘Pa Negre’ (Black Bread), shot entirely in Catalan language and representing Spain at the Oscars, was not included among the nominee shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Award. Nonetheless, ‘Pa Negre’ made a very good impression internationally and it has shown that Catalan cinema can compete at international level. And good news arrived this Tuesday with the announcement that ‘Chico y Rita’ and ‘Midnight in Paris’ had been nominated for the Academy Awards.

The Catalan Minister for Culture, Ferran Mascarell, considers the nomination of the two Catalan films as “another way to be present in the world”. “We feel proud that the effort of a Catalan company has managed to get through to the Oscars Ceremony”, stated Mascarell. The Minister described ‘Chico and Rita’ as “an excellent movie”.

Latin jazz in New York and Habana

‘Chico y Rita’ was directed by Fernando Trueba –who already won an Oscar in the early 1990s for his film Belle Époque–, Tono Errando and Javier Mariscal. The movie was co-produced by the Catalan Public Television Broadcaster ‘Televisió de Catalunya’, which also produced ‘Midnight in Paris’. The animated movie will compete with ‘A Cat in Paris’, ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’, ‘Puss in Boots’, and ‘Rango’. In December, the Catalan movie already received the Best Animated Film Award from the European Film Academy. ‘Chico and Rita’ takes place in Habana and in New York in the 1950s. It pictures the life of two Cuban latin jazz musicians, and is based on the real life of Bebo Valdés. The veteran Cuban pianist also plays for the movie. ‘Chico and Rita’ has also won a Spanish Academy award –known as the Goya– for the Best animated movie.

A Woody Allen film produced by Catalan companies

‘Midnight in Paris’ is a romantic comedy that transports the viewer back to Paris in the 1920s. The movie was written and directed by Woody Allen. The veteran director has already won a Golden Globe Award. ‘Midnight in Paris’ is a joint American and Spanish production.