email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

INSTITUTIONS Spain

González Macho puts an end to his presidency of the Film Academy… or does he?

by 

- On 24 May, elections will be held to choose the new president of the Spanish Film Academy

González Macho puts an end to his presidency of the Film Academy… or does he?
Enrique González Macho at the recent Goya gala

“I want to leave everything related to cinema, including the Academy.” With these words, which were stated in an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, the multifaceted (producer, distributor, exhibitor – the list goes on) Enrique González Macho has declared his wish not to put himself forward for the presidential elections at the Spanish Film Academy, which are due to take place on 24 May.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Almost two months before his term of office expires on 10 April, González Macho has decided to relay his decision to the board of directors at the Academy and set things in motion in order to call for new elections.

However, in that same interview, the still president of the Academy did not rule out the possibility of running for the post again if the other candidates seemed “strange and dangerous for the Academy”, he said enigmatically. Bearing in mind the way he defended cinema screenings as the main source of funding for the film industry, some media outlets have linked this open-endedness to the possible presence of candidacies that would break with this model. “I am not prepared to let so much work go to waste,” he added. 

2013 was not an easy year for González Macho. As well as the media fatigue that comes with the job, the tough situation facing the sector and the complex relationship it has with the current government have meant that he has seen his group of companies, which revolved around the distributor Alta Films and the Renoir cinemas, shrivel to almost nothing. The former has closed its doors after serving as an exemplary distributor of arthouse and European films in Spain for many years, while the latter now owns barely 40 of the roughly 200 cinemas that it once had.

The board of directors of the Academy announced the presidential elections on 17 February and is giving a time frame of a little less than two months for the submission of candidacies (which will be possible until 10 April). On 15 April, the Academy will publicly announce the candidacies that will be accepted for the elections.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Spanish)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy