18/01/2011

Just less than a month before Spanish cinema’s top awards ceremony, the Goyas, Buried [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Cortés
film profile] and Black Bread – which have ten and 14 nominations respectively (see news) – have emerged as strong alternatives to front-runners (A Sad Trumpet Ballad [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álex de la Iglesia
film profile] and Even the Rain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Icíar Bollaín
film profile]) after the former triumphed at the Jose María Forqué Awards and the latter at the Gaudí Catalan Film Awards.

The victory by Rodrigo Cortés’s English-language Buriedat the awards presented by rights management association EGEDA is perhaps more important, for these prizes are considered a clear indication of the industry’s mood ahead of the Goyas. The film was thus crowned Best Spanish Film of the Year, outstripping Black Bread, Lope [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Among Wolves [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Even the Rain. Luis Tosar also picked up Best Actor again for Even the Rain (having won last year for Cell 211 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Monzón
film profile] – see news), while Nora Navas and Emma Suárez shared Best Actress for Black Bread and The Mosquito Net, respectively.

Meanwhile, at the Gaudí Awards, handed out by the Catalan Film Academy, the major winner was Agustí Villaronga’s Black Bread, which nabbed 13 of the 15 awards for which it was nominated, including Best Catalan Language Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (again for Navas, who won the same accolade at San Sebastian – see news).

Although Black Bread has so far only had to compete with Buried, this adaptation of Emili Teixidor’s novel has proven to be one of the year’s star titles. It has managed to connect with audiences, which is no easy task for a film in Catalan, with little-known actors and a rural post-war setting. Its modest 70-print run has so far generated €850,000 and it achieved the best staying power for a Spanish narrative film in 2010, increasing its initial box office takings more than fivefold.

(Translated from Spanish)