12 Goyas, including many of the main ones, have won ‘The Snow Society’ this Saturday in Valladolid. Juan Antonio Bayona’s film, which generated some controversy in theaters due to its early upload to Netflix, which had acted as co-producer and distributor, missed out on the Best Screenplay and Lead Actor awards. But it has taken all the technical awards and also the Best Director and Film awards. The latter had always resisted the main person responsible for ‘The Impossible’ and ‘The Orphanage’.
There was no surprise in the form of a tribute to Víctor Erice nor a huge one from ‘20,000 species of bees’, which had triumphed in the Feroz, always more alternative, although the film that talks about trans childhoods won 3 awards, which Its director and screenwriter Estibaliz Urresola took the opportunity to emphasize that what is happening in Gaza is a “genocide.” It was not the only claim of the night. Rigoberta Bandini herself had appealed to “faggots and dykes” when collecting the award for Best Song.
In a ceremony marked by the attendance of the president and vice president of the government, as well as the ministers of Culture, Transport and Equality and the president of Castilla y León, demands about #MeToo were common – although not constant. Almodóvar criticized VOX when presenting the Goya for Best Film and recalled that the filmmakers – whom the far-right party called “gentlemen” – return the subsidies by paying taxes and generating thousands of jobs.
But the best of the demands was the one made through music by Niña Pastori, India Martínez and María José Llergo. They performed a wonderful version of ‘It’s over’, which didn’t fall apart halfway through, like that ‘Mi gran noche’ that started so well with Amaia alone at the piano and ended so predictably in the mouth of David Bisbal. The Goyas had decided to start like this, and it was a warning of what we would see later.
The ceremony decided not to risk either editorially or in the development of the gala itself, with very few appearances by the presenters -Los Javis and Ana Belén-, who looked much more corseted than in other television formats. The moment when Calvo, Ambrossi and María del Pilar Cuesta Acosta remembered that they do not have any award and searched the audience for other famous victims was hardly endearing.
The highlight of the night was the photo taken with Almodóvar and the cast of ‘All About My Mother’ recreating one of their scenes. On the contrary, the fact that we read the subtitles of Sigourney Weaver’s speech before she even uttered the words took away all the emotion from this Goya of Honor. From a filmmaking standpoint, it was atrocious.
The Goyas did not want to take off their tuxedos to put on the corset. After 3 and a half hours of gags, montages, tributes to Concha Velasco, performances by Estopa or a 7 and a half minute In Memoriam by Salvador Sobral and Sílvia Pérez Cruz, almost the best of the early morning was that RTVE advertisement broadcast in a break that reappropriated a phrase from ‘Zorra’, the brand new winner of Benidorm Fest. “The 1 is in a good moment,” was the great occurrence of the night, as well as the great doubt.
Goya 2024 winners:
Best Supporting Actor: José Coronado, for Cerrar los ojos
Best Original Song: I only want love, by Rigoberta Bandini (I’m loving you madly)
Best Costume: The Snow Society
Best Special Effects: The Snow Society
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Snow Society
Best New Actor: Matías Recalt, The Snow Society
Best Editing: The Snow Society
Best Cinematography: The Snow Society
Best Sound: The Snow Society
Best Artistic Direction: The Snow Society
Best Production Direction: The Snow Society
Best Music: The Snow Society
Best Animated Film: Robot Dreams
Best Documentary Film: As long as it’s you, here and now
Best Fiction Short: Although It’s Night
Best Short Documentary: Ava
Best Animated Short: To bird or not to bird
Best New Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, for 20,000 species of bees
Best New Actress: Janet Novás, for O corno
Best Ibero-American Film: The Infinite Memory (Chile)
Best European Film: Anatomy of a Fall (France)
Best Supporting Actress: Ane Gabarain, for 20,000 species of bees
Best Adapted Screenplay: Pablo Berger, for Robot Dreams
Best Original Screenplay: Estibaliz Urresola, for 20,000 species of bees
Best Actor: David Verdaguer, for Saben Aquell
Best Actress: Malena Alterio, for Nobody Sleeps
Best Director: JA Bayona, for The Snow Society
Best Film: The Snow Society
