SPAIN has scooped up a BAFTA Award and beaten three serious contenders who were thought to be certain winners.
Best Animated Film was expected to go to either Frozen 2, Toy Story 4 or Shaun the Sheep: The Movie, but in the end it went to Spanish director Sergio Pablos for Klaus, a feel-good Christmas flick which is also up for an Oscar and was nominated in the same category recently in the Goya Awards.
Jesper is the worst student at the postal academy, so as a punishment for his poor performance, he is sent to be postman in a freezing Arctic location where the inhabitants never send letters.
He is just about to give up his vocation when he meets Klaus, a toy-maker who lives alone in a hut full of his hand-made wares.
Jesper and Klaus make friends and decide to bring back some joy to the world – and discover that acts of generosity are always reciprocated.
“Thank you so much, Netflix, for taking a risk on this,” Sergio Pablos said in his BAFTA speech.
“I feel incredibly proud to be here.”
Pablos thanked everyone who 'made it possible to bring Jesper to life'.
As well as collecting the prestigious British Film and Theatre Award at the Royal Albert Hall, Sergio Pablos has recently netted an Annie Award, considered to be the Oscars of animated film.
Klaus was co-produced by Spa Studios and the broadcasting company behind Spain's channel three, Atresmedia, and was shown on Netflix for the first time in November.
From here, it has launched to the international silver screen.
Having already won two awards, Klaus could make it a hat-trick if it beats How to Train your Dragon 3: The Hidden World, Toy Story 4, Missing Link and I Lost My Body at the forthcoming Oscars.
Already, the Oscars have proven a success for Spain: Antonio Banderas has been nominated for Best Actor for his lead rôle in Dolor y Gloria ('Pain and Glory'), which is also up for Best International Film.
This is Banderas' first Oscar nomination in his career of over 35 years, and could turn out to be his first-ever Oscar.
