Shortlisted for the Academy Awards in the international feature film category, Fernando León de Aranoa’s “The Good Boss” capped a record 20 Spanish Academy Goya nominations by scoring best picture and actor for Javier Bardem at Saturday’s Goya prize ceremony.
The prizes marked both Leon and Bardem’s seventh Goya wins.Produced by El Reposado and The Mediapro Studio, and aworkplace dramedy skewering the abuse of power practised by a seemingly benign factory owner, “The Good Boss” also won best director and original screenplay for León, as well as best score and editing.
Blanca Portillo beat out “Parallel Mothers’” Oscar-nominated Penélope Cruz, thanks to Portillo’s powerful performance as Maixabel Lasa, the real life widow of former Basque Country governor Juan Mari Jauregui who agreed in 2011 to meet one of his ETA killers. Her forgiveness, and Portillo’s portrait, has touched a large nerve in Spain.
One highlight of the Goya Awards was the newly created International Goya, picked up by Cate Blanchett and presented by Cruz and Pedro Almodóvar, whom she called a “legendary couple.” She also paid tribute to Spanish cinema for having made movies despite the years of pandemic. I feel proud of what we’ve achieved as a sector. We have to go on creating,” she said.
In other highlights, Jonás Trueba won best documentary for “Quien lo impide,” tracking Spanish adolescents as they grow over the years and already voted by a San Sebastian Spanish critics poll as the best film in last year’s festival competition.
Chelo Loureiro’s “Valentina,” a 3D-2D animated musical, won best animated feature.
The 2022 Goya of Honor went to Spanish actor José Sacristan whose career spans the last 50 years, from milestone titles made during a Spain in transition from dictatorship to democracy, such as “Asignatura Pendiente” and “La Colmena,” to big modern-day Spanish series “Velvet” and “High Seas.”
The 2022 Spanish Academy awards come after various signs of robust ness in Spanish filmmaking: Four Oscar nominations (Bardem, Cruz, composer Alberto Iglesias, animated short producer Alberto Mielgo); two Berlin competition titles (“One Year, One Night,” “Alcarras,”); and resilient box office trawls in Spain of $4 million-$3 million for “The Good Boss,” “Maixabel” and “Parallel Mothers.”
The lineup of upcoming Spanish titles in 2022 suggest that building recognition may not be a flash in the pan.
2022 36th Goya Awards
And the winners are:
FILM
“The Good Boss”
DIRECTOR
Fernando León de Aranoa (“The Good Boss”)
NEW DIRECTOR
Clara Roquet (“Libertad”)
ACTRESS
Blanca Portillo (“Maixabel”)
ACTOR
Javier Bardem (“The Good Boss”)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Nora Navas (“Libertad”)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Urko Olazabal (“Maixabel”)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Fernando León de Aranoa (“The Good Boss”)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Daniel Monzón y Jorge Guerricaechevarría (“The Laws of the Border”)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Kiko de la Rica (“Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea”)
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Zeltia Montes (“The Good Boss”)
ORIGINAL SONG
“Te espera el mar,” (María José Llergo for “Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea”)
NEW ACTOR
Chechu Salgado (“The Laws of the Border”)
NEW ACTRESS
María Cerezuela (“Maixabel”)
INTERNATIONAL GOYA AWARD
Cate Blanchett
ANIMATED FEATURE
“Valentina” (Chelo Loureiro)
IBERO-AMERICAN FILM
“La cordillera de los sueños,” (Patricio Guzmán, Chile)
EUROPEAN PICTURE
“Another Round,” (Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark)
DOCUMENTARY
“Who’s Stopping Us,” (Jonás Trueba)
HONORARY GOYA
José Sacristán
LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Verónica Echegui (“Tótem loba”)
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“The Monkey,” (Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti, Xosé Zapata)
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Mamá,” (Pablo de la Chica)
EDITING
Vanessa Marimbert (“The Good Boss”)
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Albert Espel, Kostas Sfakianakis (“Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea”)
COSTUME DESIGN
Vinyet Escobar (“The Laws of the Border”)
ART DIRECTION
Balter Gallart (“The Laws of the Border”)
SOUND
Daniel Fontrodona, Oriol Tarragó, Marc Bech, Marc Orts (“Tres”)
MAKEUP AND HAIR DESIGN
Sarai Rodríguez, Benjamín Pérez, Nacho Díaz (“The Laws of the Border”)
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Pau Costa, Laura Pedro (“Way Down”)