At the beginning of each new year Spain begins the countdown to the traditional Goya Awards. Established in 1987, the ‘Premios Goya’, (as known in Spanish), are Spain’s main national annual film awards.
The Academy celebrates the quality of Spanish cinema accumulating with the presentation of the famous Goya ‘trophy’. These awards are given to those voted as the best professionals in each of the technical and creative fields of expertise.
Despite the Covid 19 outbreak the film awards ceremony on March 6th is scheduled to go ahead.
The 35th edition of the Goya Awards in the Soho Caixabank Theatre in Malaga will be hosted by Antonio Banderas and journalist and president of the Television Academy María Casado.
On Monday 11th January, the headquarters of the Spanish Film Academy in Madrid will host the traditional reading of the nominees in the different categories, presented by Dani Rovira and Ana Belén.
Over the years previous Premios Goya’s have also been memorable due to Spanish celebrities ‘dressing to the nines’ and snapped up by the media on the red carpet.
Over these last three and a half decades, prizes have provided a showcase for many thousands of well known professionals – both Spanish and foreign including; Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, and Rachel Weisz.
As for the gala, which will be directed by Arturo Díez Boscovich, the Soho Theatre will be hosting a different event to previously, with a reduced capacity, strict security measures and live television connections to other cities in Spain. Antonio Banderas promised a shorter gala with different characteristics, “less humour and more cinema”. For the moment, the only confirmed award in the list of winners is the Goya of Honour, which will be received by Ángela Molina.
A total of 155 films premiered in Spain between January 1st and 31st December 2020 and will all be competing for a Goya Award. The 155 productions include 82 fictionional movies, 72 documentaries and one animation film. This year there are also 56 European films, 16 Latin American films and 35 short films including 10 are animation films in this section.
Last year’s award for Goya de Honor and Goya for Best Leading Actor went to Antonio Banderas himself, for the film Pain and Glory.
