The 14th edition of the Gaudí Awards has consecrated the diversity of Catalan cinema and cinema made by women. ‘Sis dies corrents’, by Neus Ballús and ‘Libertad’ by Clara Roquet have won the main prizes in a ceremony that has also made clear the clamor of the profession against the war in Ukraine and a memory for Pau Riba, singer-songwriter who died this Sunday. Carla Simón, who won the Golden Bear in Berlin for ‘Alcarràs’ -her film has not arrived in time to enter this year’s call- has not missed the party either and has endorsed the empowerment of the female gaze in cinema with the awarding of a prize.
“We women haven’t come just to make first films: we’ve come to stay,” Ballús (‘La plague’, ‘Staff only’), who went up on stage several times to collect awards, highlighted in one of her speeches. ‘Sis dies corrents’ created almost exclusively by women portrays the masculine world of three plumbers and electricians and their prejudices. The film has won the award for the best film in Catalan, best direction, the award for best actor Mohamed Mallali and best supporting actor, for Valero Escolar. Neither of them is a professional and this Monday they have to get up as always, first thing in the morning. “What’s a plumber like me doing in a place like this?”, Valero said self-confidently upon receiving the award, satisfied with the opportunity he had received to discover cinema from within. It was the second time they have awarded him and his Moroccan partner. The first was at the Locarno festival. ‘Sis dies corrents’ was also made with the assembly awardwork signed by Ballús and Ariadna Ribas.
‘Liberty’the first film as a director by Clara Roquet, screenwriter of films such as ‘10,000 kilometers’, ‘Petra’, ‘Els ten que vindran’ which has already won a Goya for Best New Director has been recognized best non-Catalan language film, best screenplay, best actress for the young Maria Morera and best photography for Gris Jordana. It puts the magnifying glass on the unequal reality that surrounds us and family relationships.
The award to Best supporting actress went to Ángela Cervantes for ‘Chavalas’, another very feminine film signed by newcomer Carol Rodríguez. She was the only one of the candidates in her category who did not have a Gaudí and she picked it up very excited.
In documentaries and films for television, academics also opted for creations by women. In this last category Laura Mana He triumphed for his portrait of the first woman who was a minister in Spain during the Second Republic: ‘Federica Montseny, the talking donut’. and the work of Alba Sotorra ‘The return: life after ISIS’, focused on the efforts of five Western women trying to rebuild their lives after being manipulated by the terrorist organization. Another story starring women, these of Moroccan origin, ‘Farrucas’, by the transgender director Ian de la Rosahas taken the award to best short film.
Despite the awards, no filmmaker believes that the battle for equality has been won. “There may be many female candidates and films led by women, but there are many films by our colleagues that fall by the wayside and are never made. We go through a lot more filters before obtaining financing,” explained Ballús before the ceremony began. . And Alba Sotorra called on the institutions to fight for parity to promote “the diversity of views.”
Institutional support
Unlike last year in which the pandemic forced the gala to be moved up and capacity to be restricted, this year 1,300 people attended the party held for the first time in the Sala Oval of the Museu d’Art Nacional de Catalunya (MNAC). Among the authorities, the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta; the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès; the president of the Parliament, Laura Borràs; the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau; the Government delegate in Catalonia, Maria Eugenia Gay; the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga; the Deputy Mayor for Culture, Jordi Martí, and the President Delegate for Culture of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Juan Carlos Garcia Cañizares.
‘The Laws of the Border’, by Daniel Monzón, who aspired to 13 awards left only with three: artistic direction, wardrobe, makeup and hairdressing. But at least it has the support of the public since there are already more than 20 million who have hired the film on Netflix after a lukewarm premiere in theaters. ‘The belly of the sea’, d’ Agustí Villaronga, with 12 nominations, left empty. The director of films like ‘Pa negre’ didn’t even go up to the central circular stage once with the audience very close, sitting comfortably around tables. ‘Tros’, by Pau Calpe, also left emptyproducer who has gone behind the camera.
Instead, as happened at the Goya, ‘Mediterráneo’, Marcel Barrena’s film that explains the origin of Open Arms, did win several awards. The film, a hard and tender story with Eduard Fernández playing Òscar Camps, founder of the NGO, has won the special audience award, visual effects, original music and production direction. ‘Tres’, a film by Juanjo Giménez about a sound specialist with hearing problems who won a singing Gaudí, the one with the best sound. The best animated film was also chosen as there was only one candidate film, ‘Mironins’.
More cinema, less war
Judith Colell in her first awards as president of the Catalan Cinema Academy made it clear that her style is different. She shared her speech this year with other members of her board of directors, Maria Molins and Carlos R. Ríos. Beyond the situation of the Catalunya cinema, they expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people. And it is that the Russian invasion in Ukraine was answered with a resounding ‘No to war’. The gala was attended by the actress Polina Dzhakaieva, who presented an award. The public stood up to applaud her moving speech: “I feel your warmth that is directed at my country, victim of a war that does not distinguish between soldiers, mothers, fathers and children,” Polina began. “They can destroy our houses, bridges and take our lives but the cinema will always be there to bring down lies, madness and bloodlust. Freedom and culture always win. We will win.” More movies and less war.
The veteran director of photography Tomàs Pladevall, a magician of light, also starred in another emotional moment when he received the award from Mercè Sampietro and Josep Maria Pou.
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The night also brought news such as the creation of the Department for attention and prevention of abuse in the audiovisual and performing arts sector, the first of these characteristics in Catalonia and Spain where “cases may be presented even if they have been prescribed”, announced Maria Molins .