The Gaudí Awards evaluate this Sunday the state of Catalan cinema. It seems that the situation is recovering, albeit slowly, after the effects of the pandemic, the confinement and the restrictions to which production, distribution and exhibition have been subjected since March 2020. The Catalan cinematographic harvest of that year was not the best possible, although there were interesting titles endorsed in the awards. The main ones fell on ‘La vampiresa de Barcelona’, ‘Las Niñas’ and ‘My Mexican Bretzel’, three very different models. The same thing happens this year, in which there are three films that stand out, at least at the level of nominations.
The latest proposal by Agustí Villaronga, ‘El ventre del mar’, competes in 12 categories. It is a film that mixes diverse styles, genres and textures. One more nomination has ‘The Border Laws’, the peculiar immersion in the quinqui cinema carried out by Daniel Monzón based on the homonymous novel by Javier Cercas. The film won five Goya awards, including best adapted screenplay, artistic direction and revelation actor. And with 11 and 10 appear respectively ‘Freedom’, Goya for Best New Director for Clara Roquet, and ‘Mediterranean’, the film about the creation of the Open Arms NGO that won the Goya for best photography and two other awards.
best address…
‘Mediterranean’, ‘Libertad’ and ‘The Border Laws’ compete with ‘Three’ – the film about a sound designer who loses her sense of hearing – for Gaudí for the best film in a non-Catalan language. ‘El ventre del mar’ has as its rivals in the category of best film the peculiar fiction and non-fiction story ‘Sis dies corrents’, by Neus Ballús; the rural drama ‘Tros’, recently released debut feature by Pau Calpe, and ‘Visitante’, a film somewhere between thriller and horror directed by also newcomer Alberto Evangelio. Villaronga, Ballús, Roquet and Monzón choose the Gaudí for the best address. It seems that the first starts as a favoritebut will the current wave of awards for directors that is dominating the panorama of national awards and international festivals be repeated at the Gaudí?
Amend the Goya
The Catalan awards amend the flat to the Spanish in some sections. Nobody understood that Marta Nieto, the protagonist of ‘Tres’, was not nominated for best actress in the past Goya awards. In this film about sound –it would be almost unthinkable for Gaudí to fail in this category–, Nieto’s acting work is essential, both when he listens normally and when he hears the noises seconds after they actually occur. Nieto does compete, in all fairness, for the Gaudí for best female performance. Her opponents are Vicky Luengo for ‘Chavalas’ and the almost newcomers María Morera, for ‘Libertad’, and Begoña Vargas, for ‘The laws of the border’. And Nora Navas appears in the secondary actress section for ‘Libertad’. She achieved the Goya for this same task.
As for the male performers, you can take a slight advantage Edward Fernandez for his role in ‘Mediterráneo’. A true classic: nominated nine times, counting this one, He has won the Gaudí as a main or secondary actor four times, the last one in 2017 for ‘The man with a thousand faces’. One of his competitors is Mohamed Mellali, one of the electricians from ‘Sis dies corrents’. His co-star, Valerio Escolar, opts for Gaudí as secondary. In the last edition of the Locarno festival, both won the award for best actor jointly. Without distinction of category.
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Best European film…
There will be a tough fight at the Gaudí for the best European film, since the French vintage, with the musical ‘Annette’ and the groundbreaking ‘Titane’, is very good, and the multi-award-winning ‘Another round’ and ‘Quo Vadis , Aida?’, a film more pertinent today than when it was released because, although it talks about the conflict in Bosnia in 1995, it has many points in common with the current invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The only award already obtained before the ceremony is for ‘Mironins (the film)’: as has happened in other editions, it is the only animated film of the past year.