J. A. Bayona: ‘Impossible to separate my love for cinema from Sitges festival’

Acclaimed Catalan filmmaker J. A. Bayona will pick up the Time Machine Award on Tuesday evening at the Sitges Fantasy and Horror Film Festival.  

The director’s latest film, the tense thriller ‘Society of the Snow’, has won plaudits across the world, and has been chosen as Spain’s entry in the next Oscars for Best International Feature.  

In an interview with the Catalan News Agency, Bayona said that his love for cinema cannot be separated from the Sitges film festival: “they’re the same thing.” 

When he was 16, Bayona attended the Sitges festival for the first time. There began a love affair with the festival that has led him to present most of his films in the Catalan seaside town event.  

The following year, he attended with a press pass. "I invented a radio program and I came to cover the Sitges Festival and that allowed me to see 40 or 50 films in a week," Bayona said.  

There, he met many industry professionals such as Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, who co-produced the 2007 horror-thriller 'The Orphanage'.  

Now in its 56th edition this year, the festival has returned Bayona’s love and loyalty to him by presenting him with the Time Machine Award.  

‘Society of the Snow’ has helped him to "rediscover" himself as a director after what he calls "the American adventure" with 'Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom,' as well as the series ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'.