Goya winners – the Spanish Oscars
Daniel Monzón’s hard-hitting prison drama ‘Cell 211’ emerged as the big winner at last night’s Goya Awards ceremony in Madrid.
‘Cell 211’ took eight awards in total, including best film, best director (Daniel Monzón), best adapted script as well as best actor for Luis Tosar’s portrayal of a prison inmate.
The other hotly-tipped film, Alejandro Amenábar’s historical drama ‘Agora’, picked up seven awards, including best original screenplay, Amenábar’s 11th career Goya.
Besides the actual awards, there was plenty more to get Hollywood tongues wagging: Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem finally made an official public appearance together, sitting side by side at the ceremony. Although hotly tipped for the best actress award for her part in Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Broken Embraces’, Cruz was passed over as the award went to Lola Dueñas for her role in ‘Me Too’.
The other big surprise of the night was the appearance of Spain’s most internationally recognized filmmaker, Pedro Almodóvar, who quit the academy in 2005 amidst controversy over voting procedures and hasn’t attended a ceremony since. Almodóvar, who has often accused the Spanish Film Academy of snubbing his films, received a standing ovation from the audience just for showing up.
Before presenting Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil with the award for best original screenplay, Almodóvar told the audience, “I’m here because you have a very persistent president. He {Alex Iglesias} pestered me until two days ago. And I had a lot of excuses, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
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