J.A. Bayona picks up Best Director at Feroz Awards for 'Society of the Snow'

The Catalan director J.A. Bayona won the 2024 Feroz Award in the category Best Director for his film ‘Society of the Snow’ at the Feroz Awards ceremony on Friday. The awards are considered the Spanish equivalent to the Golden Globes Awards and are presented by the Association of Cinematographic Informers of Spain - journalists and critics.

This is the first win of 2024 for the Bayona, who has been nominated for two Oscars and one Catalan Gaudí Award, the latter award ceremony to be held in Barcelona on February 4.

Most-watched film on Netflix

‘Society of the Snow’ became the most-watched film on Netflix around the world during the first week of 2024.

Despite only being released on the platform halfway through the week, on Thursday, January 4, the disaster thriller soared to the top spot, with viewing figures far superior to any other film, either in English or not.

According to Netflix, Bayona's latest work registered almost 23m views and 55.8m hours watched in the week from January 1 to 7.

 'Society of the Snow,' was released in cinemas in Catalonia on December 15, before being made available on Netflix.

The miracle of the Andes 

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 the Andes.

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