'Las leyes de la frontera', 'El ventre del mar' and 'Libertad' land most Gaudí Award nominations

'Las leyes de la frontera', 'El ventre del mar', and 'Libertad' have received the highest number of Gaudí Award nominations ahead of the 14^th edition of the biggest event in the Catalan cinema, which will be held on March 6 at Catalonia's National Art Museum (MNAC) in Barcelona.

And for the second year in a row, there are more women, 54%, than men vying for awards. This trend "normalizes gender equality," Catalan Film Academy secretary Carla Simón told public broadcaster TV3 on Tuesday morning after the nominees were announced. Simón, a director herself, shot to fame in 2017 with the semi-autobiographical 'Summer 1993'.

Daniel Monzón's 'Las leyes de la frontera', an adaptation of a Javier Cercas novel about a Girona teen who befriends two criminals, tops the charts with 13 nominations, including Best Non-Catalan Language Film, followed by 'El ventre del mar', with 12 and 'Libertad' with 11.

'Mediterráneo', Marcel Barrena's film about the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean which tells the true story of migrant rescue ship Open Arms, is in the running for 10 awards.

All in all, 28 feature-length productions, short films, and documentaries have been selected to enter the second round of votes, which begin on Tuesday and will end on February 25.

What are the Gaudí Awards?

The Gaudí Awards are an annual film ceremony in Catalonia, which began in 2009, having spun off from the Barcelona Awards, which date back to 2002. 

Antoni Gaudí, whom the prize is named after, was a Catalan architect, most famously known for his design of the unfinished Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

There are 22 award categories, including Best Catalan Film, which requires at least 20% Catalan participation in the production to compete.