Spanish Cinema: Goya Awards

Spanish cinema’s Goya Awards ceremony will be held in the next few weeks, which reminds us of the enormous impact film has on the transmission of the language and the great amount of material that movies in all their different formats offer teachers of Spanish as a foreign language: feature-length films, documentaries, short films…

Spanish-language cinema is currently experiencing an interesting period, both creatively speaking and in terms of the excellent performances of Spanish and Latino actors in internationally celebrated films. Spanish names are no longer uncommon in Hollywood. Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz are international stars, recognized around the world and honored with prestigious awards.    

Four films have been nominated to win the Goya Award for best movie (Hollywood’s Oscar ceremony is so internationally followed that it’s not necessary to mention here, as it’s impossible to not know what happens there given the magnitude of the international publicity it gets).

This year, the Goya Award best film nominees are full-length films that offer an example of the great diversity of the cinematographic work being produced now in Spain:

Director Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves (Snow White), a peculiar version of the classic tale known by all, takes place within the surroundings of the flamenco and bulls of Andalusia. This silent, black and white film inevitably reminds us of last year’s critically and publicly acclaimed “The Artist”. Blancanieves is an attractive and original remake of the story popularized by the brothers Grimm.  

Alberto Rodriguez Librero’s Grupo 7 is an action film set during the 1992 World Expo in Seville, where a group of cops must “clean up” the city using any means necessary. This is a story of tough guys who surprisingly discover friendship, camaraderie and tenderness.

The third nominee is the latest from a master Spanish filmmaker who won an Oscar for “Belle Epoque “ in 1992. Fernando Trueba is a renaissance man, skilled in many different cinematographic registers, from that of a documentary with his El milagro de Candeal  (Miracle of Candeal), to musicals such as Calle 54, comedy, and even animation, the genre of the magnificent film Chico and Rita that he made together with the brilliant Javier Mariscal.  Now Trueba offers audiences the story of an elderly artist that rediscovers his art when he meets a young Spanish model, all back dropped by occupied, 1943 France. The film features international actors such as Jean Rochefort, Claudia Cardinale, the very young Aida Folch and Chus Lampreave.

Finally, J.A. Bayona’s Lo Impossible is clearly the cinematographic success of the year in Spain –and not only in Spain. The movie is based on the true story of a Spanish family in Thailand that experiences firsthand the December 26 tsunami that brutally hit the coasts of that region. It is an impactful story, perhaps a bit excessively so, about survival and the power of love and faith during times in which we are pushed to our limits. This movie has broken Spanish box office records.

To not lose touch with what’s going in Spanish cinema, it’s a good idea to check out the Goya Awards online.