Spanish cinema awards coming up!

This February will see the 25th annual Premios Goya, the Spanish cinema awards named in honour of the world renowned painter Francisco de Goya. The awards ceremony, to be held on the 13^thFebruary 2011, is organised by the Academia de las Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Spanish Academy of Cinematic Art and Science) and will comprise a total of 28 different categories, including Best Film, Best Actor/Actress, Best Director and Best Latin-American film from the previous year. The short listed nominations were announced earlier on in January, so let’s take a look at who’s up for the awards!

The most important has to be the Best Film category, for which there are four nominations:

También la Lluvia(Even the Rain) is a story of a Spanish film crew who go to Bolivia to make a film about the conquest of Latin America. It combines elements of reality as they witness the protests against the privatization of water, which were actually happening at the time when it was set, in 2000. The film has been internationally acknowledged, being nominated for Best Foreign Language film at this year’s Oscars as well as 13 different Goya Awards. Among these are Best Leading Actor for Luis Toscar and Best Director for Icíar Bollaín.

Balada triste de trompeta(The Last Circus or A Sad Trumpet Balad) is set during the Spanish civil war. Whilst the Nationalists and the Republicans are fighting for the country, two circus clowns are fighting for the love of a beautiful acrobat, who is unable to decide between them. Alex de la Iglesia’s (the director's) images have been called absurd yet beautiful and have merited 15 nominations at this year’s Goyas, the most of any film.

Enterrado(Buried) has also received excellent critical acclaim internationally. An Iraqi-based American truck driver wakes up confined in a wooden coffin, to discover he has been kidnapped and buried alive. With only limited tools and a mobile phone that barely works, he tries find a way to escape, whilst also being blackmailed by his kidnapper for ransom money.

Pa Negre (Black Bread) is a Catalan film that portrays the division of Catalonia during the post civil war period. After some traumatic events and in his desperation for a happier lifestyle, the young boy Andreu is forced to betray his humble roots to live with a rich family. The film is nominated for a total of 14 Goyas, including Best Leading Actress for Nora Navis and Best Director for Agustí Villaronga.

These four films are clearly the favourites to win many of the awards between them, however there are other notable competitors, including Biutiful, featuring Javier Bardem, with 8 nominations and Lope, with 7 nominations.

The ceremony, on the 13^thFebruary, will be the 25^thbirthday of the awards, so it’s guaranteed to be a good one. We’ll keep you posted on the winners!