Strong Catalan presence in nominations for Spain's Goya film awards
'20,000 Species of Bees' leads with 15 nominations, followed by J.A. Bayona's 'Society of the Snow' with 13
'20,000 Species of Bees' leads with 15 nominations, followed by J.A. Bayona's 'Society of the Snow' with 13
Carla Simón's film will compete with 'As bestas,' 'Cinco Lobitos,' 'La Maternal,' and 'Modelo 77' for Best Movie
Movie directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Javier Bardem was co-produced by Catalan company Mediapro
Pilar Palomero’s childhood drama emerges triumphant in Spain’s Oscar-like gala
She was well known for her appearances in cinema, theater, and television, and won two Goya awards
‘The Bookshop’ and ‘Estiu 1993’ have been awarded with a total of six prizes, including best film and best director
‘The Bookshop’ and ‘Estiu 1993’ have both been nominated for best film
The Spanish Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday the death of Vicente Aranda, who has passed away in Madrid at the age of 88. Aranda was a renowned Barcelona-born film director, screenwriter and producer and one of the founding members of the so-called 'Barcelona School of Film', a group of Catalan filmmakers during the 1960’s concerned about how cinema was portraying unexpected events in daily life, with a pop-culture style. Born in the Catalan capital in 1926, during the course of his career Aranda won two Goya Awards, the Spanish Academy's equivalent of the Oscars. He directed many films including 'Amantes' (in English, 'Lovers', 1991), 'La Passión Turca' ('The Turkish Passion', 1994), and 'Juana la loca' ('Mad Love', 2001), among others. Among the key themes of his work are: the exploration of social issues, love as uncontrollable passion, eroticism and cruelty.
Eric Roth, writer of “Forrest Gump” or “Munich”, will be joining him in the making of this new movie. Juan Antonio Bayona, after conquering the world of Spanish cinema with his movie “The Orphanage” and entering the worldwide market with “The Impossible”, is now undertaking a project to direct a science fiction film in Hollywood. Few details have been revealed so far, but the announcement has raised great expectation given the enormous success of the first two films by the Catalan director.
The series, produced by the Catalan Public Television Broadcaster and Filmax, has been exported to several countries and Steven Spielberg and Marta Kauffman are going to shoot a remake for the ABC network. ‘Polseres vermelles’ – which literally means ‘red bracelets’ in Catalan - describes the life of a group of six teenagers who live in a hospital as patients. It is based on the personal experiences of its creator, Albert Espinosa, who had cancer as a child. The first season was aired in 2011 and it became a huge success with audiences. The second season premiered on Thursday and will be broadcast as from Monday on TV3 at prime time.
‘Black Bread’ (‘Pa Negre’), which was shot in Catalan, will represent Spain at the Oscars. Literature Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, chef Ferran Adrià, soccer player Gerard Piqué, tenor Josep Carreras, artist Miquel Barceló, filmmaker Isabel Coixet, chef José Andrés, psychiatrist Luis Rojas Marcos and dancer Rafael Amargo are some of the celebrities who have participated in a video sponsoring the film in its quest to win an Oscar nomination. The film depicts the horrible period after the Spanish Civil War through the experiences of a young boy living in rural Catalonia.
‘Pa negre’ (Black Bread), directed by Agustí Villaronga and shot entirely in Catalan, was the main winner of the last Spanish film awards surprising everyone. Now it has been pre-selected 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). The film that will represent Spain will be known on September 28th.
The Catalan movie 'Pa Negre', directed by Agustí Villaronga and filmed entirely in Catalan, is a huge hit at the Goya Awards taking home 9 awards out of 14 nominations, including the awards for the best film, the best director, and 4 of the 6 acting awards. The movie pictures the dark years after the Spanish Civil War in Catalonia.