'Sirat's' rave triumphs at the Gaudí Awards, which also recognize 'Frontera' and 'Sorda'

BarcelonaSirado It has added another major triumph to its resume. Oliver Laxe's film won eight awards yesterday at the grand celebration of Catalan cinema and is the clear winner of the eighteenth edition of the Gaudí Awards, held for the first time at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Sirado It won the award for best film in a language other than Catalan, ahead of titles such as Deaf and Pilgrimage and swept the technical categories, winning awards for production design, art direction, original music, cinematography, costume design, makeup and hairstyling, visual effects, and sound. radish of Sirado In the desert, the film culminates in a success that reaffirms its status as the phenomenon of the season, endorsed by the Catalan Academy, which followed the example of the jury that awarded the film at the Cannes Film Festival and the Hollywood Academy, which nominated it for two Oscars. Laxe, absent from the gala because the film premieres in the United States this weekend, lost his personal duel yesterday in the Best Director category, one of the most hotly contested in the history of the awards, with such strong rivals as Carla Simón for Pilgrimage and Albert Serra for Afternoons of solitudeFinally, the award went to newcomer Eva Libertad for DeafNor did the only actor nominated win the Gaudí award. SiradoSergi López, who now has nine nominations without a win in his career. But the success of Sirado The Gaudí Awards can also be interpreted as recognition of the historical milestones achieved by a film that, above all, has demonstrated cinema's power to move viewers and generate public debate. Catalan cinema needs films that stir passions and hatreds, that become part of the conversation, and that transcend borders.

President and award winner

In a fairly evenly distributed list of awards, with prizes for many films, the success of [film name] stands out. Borderby Judith Colell, and by Deaf, by Eva Libertad. Border It took home three official awards, including Best Film, and the Audience Award, decided by popular vote. Colell thus becomes the first president of the Film Academy to win a Gaudí Award while in office, an unprecedented feat not achieved by either Joel Joan or Isona Passola. In fact, as she herself acknowledged, Colell had not yet received a Gaudí Award. "At a time like this, acceptance and empathy are more necessary than ever," she said. "This award is for all those who seek refuge and don't always find a helping hand."

The award must have a special significance for the filmmaker, who felt that this rural drama set on the French border during World War II was her "last chance" as a director. It's also fitting that the film's other two Gaudí Awards went to Mercè Paloma for her costume design and Bruna Cusí for her performance, two close collaborators of Agustí Villaronga, to whom Colell dedicates Frontera in the end credits. When Colell donned her Academy president's hat for the institutional address, she celebrated the "sweet moment" of Catalan cinema, which "has doubled its average budget" and grossed "more than 10 million" in theaters. "We can no longer speak of isolated achievements or miracles," she said.

Deaf The Gaudí Awards marched with three prizes, and what three they were!: Best Director for Eva Libertad, who also won Best Adapted Screenplay – the film was based on a previous short film – and Best Supporting Actor for Álvaro Cervantes, who learned sign language to play the hearing partner of a deaf woman struggling with her hand. It was a night of celebration at Can Cervantes, as Ángela Cervantes, Álvaro Cervantes' sister, also took home the Gaudí Award for which she was nominated, for her impressive performance as a woman scarred by the trauma of rape in The furyIt was the third time the Catalan academics had nominated Ángela Cervantes, and the third time she had won a Gaudí Award, a personal record she celebrated with fraternal jokes ("Thanks for giving my brother an award, that way he won't get jealous") and a powerful statement against xenophobia: "Thanks to the most empathetic and humane migrants. I hope you are telling their stories in these seats."

The list of winners of The fury The Gaudí Award for Best Director went to Gemma Blasco, who, in one of the most heartbreaking speeches of the night, told "the eighteen-year-old Gemma, who had just been assaulted and wanted to be a filmmaker: years will pass and you will meet men who will not see your body as territory to be conquered, and one day you will be able to respect it." Many thought Blasco's award would go to Jaume Claret Muxart for Strange riverThe surprise of the nominations with its eight nominations. This stimulating debut leaves the Gaudí Awards without any prizes, and the same almost happened to [film title missing]. PilgrimageDespite its thirteen nominations, more than any other film, it ultimately won only one Gaudí Award: Best Newcomer for Lucía García, the debutante who stars in Carla Simón's latest film. Of course, Albert Serra took home one of the most anticipated awards of the night, Best Documentary for Afternoons of solitudewhich won a second Gaudí Award for the editing by Serra himself and Artur Tort, who shaped the film from the more than 700 hours of footage shot by the filmmaker from Banyoles. A meager haul for a film as important as Serra's, which isn't even the most awarded documentary at the Gaudí Awards. My Mexican pretzel It took home another statuette in 2021. But, of course, it wasn't for a documentary on such a sensitive topic as bullfighting.

Another notable award was Mario Casas's for best leading actor for Very far, his magnificent directorial debut coach Gerard Oms won the acting award. It's the second Gaudí award that Casas has won, having already won it for [unclear - possibly "Best Actor"]. Thou shalt not killAnd Cesc Gay also left with his statuette, the one for best original screenplay for a comedy. My friend EvaThe award was shared with the screenwriter's co-writer and winner in the category for the second year running, Edu Sola, who in his acceptance speech championed utopias and "a world without fucking fascist assholes." It's worth highlighting the prominence of animation in the awards: in addition to the Gaudí for best animated film for the production in stop motion Olivia and the Invisible EarthquakeThe award for best European film went to Irene Iborra, who gave one of the most political speeches of the night with a call to prevent evictions. FlowThe first animated film to win in this Gaudí category. And finally, the diversity of awards with greater gender parity than ever before and a clamor for inclusivity represented in the awards for Deaf and to the short SugarBy Claudia Cedó.

Sound problems and poor pacing

The novelty of this year's gala was the shared presentation by five women and a stage design with colors meant to symbolize the soul of Catalan cinema, as we were often reminded throughout the event; nothing against conceptual approaches, but something isn't working if it has to be explained so many times. The five presenters—Maria Arnal, Nora Navas, Laura Weissmahr, Maria Molins, and Carla Quílez—put in the effort, but the gala's flow was lacking, partly due to sound problems, which were especially frustrating during Marina Rossell's performance. The only glimmer of lightness came from the conversations between Joel Díaz, Betsy Túrnez, and David Verdaguer with the two audience members who presented the Audience Award. The gala won't go down in history, but it has produced a well-deserved list of winners and a happy family portrait of Catalan cinema, which, as Sílvia Munt said in her acceptance speech for the Gaudí d'Honor, is a "family of unclassifiable individuals who live their imaginary world with all their passion, like creatures playing with the intangible."

The list of winners of the 18th Gaudí Awards

Best Picture

• Borderby Judith Colell

Best film in a language other than Catalan

• Siradoby Oliver Laxe

Best Animated Feature

• Olivia and the Invisible Earthquakeby Irene Iborra Rizo

Best Documentary Feature

• Afternoons of solitudeby Albert Serra

Better direction

• Eva Libertad, by Deaf

Best new director

• Gemma Blasco, by The fury

Best Original Screenplay

• Cesc Gay and Eduard Solà, by My friend Eva

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Eva Libertad, by Deaf

Best female lead

• Angela Cervantes, by The fury

Best Male Lead

• Mario Casas, by Very far

Best Supporting Actress

• Bruna Cusí, by Border

Best Supporting Actor

• Álvaro Cervantes, by Deaf

Best Breakthrough Performance

• Bernat Solé Palau, by Strange river

Better production direction

• Oriol Maymó, by Sirado

Best Original Music

• Kangding Ray, by Sirado

Best photograph

• Mauro Herce, by Sirado

Better assembly

• Albert Serra and Artur Tort, by Afternoons of solitude

Best Art Direction

• Laia Ateca, by Sirado

Best wardrobe

• Nadia Acimi, by Sirado

Better makeup and hairstyling

• Zaira Eva Adén, by Sirado

Better visual effects

• Pep Claret, Lluís Rivera and Benjamin Ageorges, for Sirado

Better sound

• Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas, by Sirado

Best Short Film

• Sugarby Claudia Cedó

Best European Film

• Flow, a world to save, by Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia)