The Catalan Parliament demands a category "entirely in Catalan" from the Catalan Government for the Gaudí Awards

BarcelonaA motion passed this Thursday in the Catalan Parliament has called on the Catalan Government to "reach a consensus" with the Catalan Film Academy "on the necessary strategies to define a specific category for films spoken entirely in Catalan within the Gaudí Awards." The motion, which included various items related to cultural policies, was presented by the Junts parliamentary group and approved with the votes of Junts, ERC, Comuns, CUP, and Aliança Catalana. In statements to ARA, the president of the Film Academy, Judith Colell, expressed her "great surprise" at the Parliament's demand. "The Gaudí Awards have had, since their first edition, a category dedicated exclusively to films in their original Catalan version, and it is the awards' flagship category," Colell pointed out. "And we didn't invent the original Catalan version. We abide by the regulations set by the Generalitat (Catalan Government)." The criteria that determine what is considered the original Catalan version stem from the Film Law that the Parliament of Catalonia approved in 2010 and which was drafted by the Ministry of Culture, then headed by Joan Manuel Tresserras.

The Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (ICEC), which manages film subsidies, is responsible for verifying the original version of a film. Producers must submit to the ICEC a declaration of the percentage of languages ​​used in the original filming, and the language with the highest percentage determines the original version of the film. The percentages are calculated based on the number of words in each language. In case of any doubt, the ICEC can review the percentages to ensure the veracity of the producers' declarations. as happened in the case of Very farSince a film in its original Catalan version can access specific subsidies, the ICEC never requires that a film be spoken entirely in Catalan to consider it its original Catalan version.

"It wouldn't have been included in a category for films entirely in Catalan." Black breadwhich has some dialogue in Spanish, but it's clearly the original Catalan version, of course. And the same goes for Alcarràs"Colell points out that if there is any problem with the definition of the original Catalan version, perhaps the debate should be moved here, rather than to the Gaudí Awards. "If the Generalitat wants to change the way the original Catalan version is determined, we will adapt to what the ICEC establishes," Colell assures. "For us, protecting the Catalan language is of utmost importance; it is one of our priorities and that will not change."