There were no big surprises. With three awards each, As bestas, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and Cinco lobitos, by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, were the winners of the Feroz awards gala that were awarded last night by the Association of Cinematographic Informants of Spain (AICE) and whose tenth edition was held this Saturday in Zaragoza.
The cold night of the capital Maña was filled with glamor in the run-up to the Goyas with the incessant parade of the great names of national cinema, such as Luis Tosar, Rossy de Palma, Leonor Walting, Aitana Sanchez Gijón, Carmen Machi or Bibiana Fernandez among much others. In total, almost three hours of awards, thank you speeches and irreverent humor broadcast on social networks, with presenters like Silvia Abril drawing the biggest applause and laughter from the audience.
Inside, a packed auditorium witnessed how Sorogoyen's film won the title of best dramatic film at the closing of the gala. "We have had the support of the press and the public, and that makes us immensely happy," said the film crew when collecting the award.
Before, the Galician actor Luis Zahera had opened the list of winners with the award for best supporting actor for his performance in this tense thriller, where Oliver Arson's score also shone, award for best original music.
It was also a profitable evening for the Cinco lobitos team. The Catalan Laia Costa won the award for best leading actress, which she already received at the Forqué awards held last month. Her partner Susi Sanchez, her devoted mother in the footage, won the award for best supporting actress, and was grateful for having been able to play "an extraordinary character." The trio of awards was closed by its director, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, who picked up the award for best screenplay for a film.
Another one who continues to reap laurels is the Barcelona director Carla Simón, winner of the Best Director award for her work behind the camera in Alcarràs. The trophy further magnifies a film that already won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale last year - the first Spanish film to achieve it in 39 years - and which has just triumphed at the Gaudí.
The marked feminine tone at the gala was highlighted by the highest authorities present, the Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, and the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, for whom "feminism is unstoppable, as well as women and the talent of All of them".
Other important awards of the night went to the Official Competition, recognized as the best comedy film; Nacho Sánchez, winner of the award for best leading actor for his role in Manticora; or the young director Eduardo Casanova, who received the Fiction Outburst Award for his film La Piedad and was speechless when it came to picking up the trophy.
In the series section, two proper names shone above the rest. On the one hand was La ruta, which won recognition for best dramatic series, best leading actress (Claudia Salas from Madrid) and best script. On the other hand, I don't like driving received the award for best comedy series, best leading actor (the Spanish-Argentine Juan Diego Botto) and best supporting actor in a series, which went to David Lorente.
But without a doubt, one of the most special moments of the night was experienced when the most international Spanish director, Pedro Almodóvar (73 years old), collected the Feroz de Honor award from several of his girls for his prolific career, which includes two Oscar.
Excited and "very fragile", as he himself admitted, the man from La Mancha cried when he remembered his deceased mother, "who told me that the fight to survive is not incompatible with humor (...) and inspired the majority of my movies". He also pointed out the imprint that his time with the Salesians left on him-"they made me ignorant and an atheist"-or his arrival in Madrid, "which from the moment I set foot there I knew it would be my home" and the love he always professed for the seventh art . "Cinema has completely engulfed my life," he stressed before recalling the role of health workers during the pandemic and criticizing the shortcomings suffered by the public health system, especially in the capital.
The gala for these awards, inspired by the American Golden Globes, put the finishing touch to several weeks in which the capital has breathed cinema, with dozens of screenings, colloquiums and other events related to the seventh art. The next appointment for Spanish cinema will come in barely two weeks, when Seville hosts the 37th edition of the Goya Awards.
