IF YOU'RE in the Comunidad Valenciana any time between now and the early hours of March 20, you may notice an awful lot of noise and colour on the streets. It's the season for the region's biggest festival,...
Goya Awards 2021: Your complete guide to this year's nominees and winners
07/03/2021
SPAIN'S answer to the Oscars, gracing the red carpet at the Goya Awards is every performer's, writer's or director's ultimate goal this side of the pond. Although the weirdest cinema success experience would have to be that of winning a coveted statuette and having to watch your name read out on telly.
That's exactly what happened last night (Saturday, March 6). After all, the 2020 Goyas took place barely a week and a half before the first lockdown, when health bosses in Spain were urging the public not to panic unduly and ruling out mass contagion.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but at least the pandemic did not stop the ceremony altogether – it simply meant that only the presenters, those actually giving out the prizes, and those singing on stage would be at the usual venue in Madrid, and everyone else, even the winners, joined in via Zoom.
In a bid to make it an extra-special evening rather than the let-down it was threatening to be, the organisers went all out with the cast list – starting with one of the two presenters being none other than last year's Best Actor winner Antonio Banderas, who was joined at the mic by María Casado; continuing with prizes being given out by last year's Best Director, Best Original Script and Best Film winner, silver-screen household name Pedro Almodóvar, and by the 2020 nominee for Best Lead Actress Penélope Cruz; and finishing with personal hellos and waves from half of Hollywood to the hopefuls and their friends and family watching with them.
'Half of Hollywood' is only a slight exaggeration: Zoom greetings filling this year's ceremony came from Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Charlize Theron, Dustin Hoffman, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Salma Hayek, Sylvester Stallone, Benicio del Toro, Isabelle Huppert, Monica Bellucci, Ricardo Darín and Laura Dern.
And along with Almodóvar and the most world-famous of his veteran players, other prizegivers were some of Spain's most famous screen stars: Paz Vega, Belén Cuesta, Najwa Nimri, Hiba Abouk, Maggie Civantos, Natalia Verbeke, Leonardo Sbaraglia, and The Others director Alejandro Amenábar, to name just the best-known 50% of them.
Pop sensation Aitana provided some of the music, and so did Princess of Asturias Award-winning Hollywood soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone, albeit posthumously in his case.
Also posthumously, TV actor Quique San Francisco was present in spirit, with tributes given to him following his recent death from pneumonia at the age of 65.
So, in summary, the 2021 Goya Awards were practically perfect in every way except one – the fact there was nobody there. And to have actually been there in person at Málaga's Soho Caixabank Theatre with all the rest of this going on would have made it the most earth-shatteringly, dazzlingly unique experience that the nominees and winners would have been dining out on for the rest of their careers.
Bookies were raking it in with hours to go before the awards changed hands, and it looked to be a very close call – for the Best European Film category, too, with two mainstream British productions gunning for the honour.
But we won't spoil it by telling you who went home with their hands full just yet. Here's a round-up of the entries so you can place your own bets before you read the results at the end of this article.
Remember, if you're curious but aren't comfortable enough with your Spanish to be able to watch them, you can get all of these on DVD or via the usual platforms, and set the subtitles to English.
If you become hooked and want to see more, read about our most-recommended and timeless Spanish films here.
Adú
In a desperate attempt to reach Europe, a six-year-old boy from Cameroon and his elder sister wait on a runway to try to sneak into the hold of an aircraft.
Nearby, a Spanish environmental activist is horrified by the sight of a dead, tuskless elephant, and is attempting to fight against poaching whilst dealing with his recently-arrived daughter's troubles.
Thousands of kilometres to the north, in the Spanish city of Melilla on the northern African coast, a group of Guardia Civil officers are preparing to face the avalanche of would-be migrants waiting to climb the fence over to European territory en masse.
Three tales in which none of the main characters realises they are about to cross paths, their fates intertwined, and their lives never to be the same again.
Stars Luis Tosar, Anna Castillo, Álvaro Cervantes, Jesús Carroza, Miquel Fernández, Ana Wagener, Nora Navas and Adam Nourou; directed by Salvador Calvo, script by Alejandro Hernández.
Nominated for: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Script, Best Original Soundtrack (for composer Roque Baños), Best Original Song (for Sababoo, by Roque Baños and Cherif Badua), Best Supporting Actor (for Álvaro Cervantes), Best New Actor (for Adam Nourou), Best Production (for Ana Parra and Luis Fernández Lago), Best Photographic Direction (for Sergi Vilanova Claudín), Best Set (for Jaime Colis), Best Artistic Direction (for César Macarrón), Best Hair and Makeup (for Elena Cuevas, Mara Collazo and Sergio López), and Best Sound Effects (for Eduardo Esquide, Jamaica Ruiz García, Juan Ferro and Nicolás de Poulpiquet).
Ane
Lide, played by Patricia López Arnáiz, works as a security guard for a high-speed railway line under construction – a project that has sparked widespread civil unrest and protests – and, arriving home at the end of her shift and an all-night party in time for breakfast, finds her teenage daughter Ane missing. Initially believing the young woman had walked out due to a row they had had the day before, Lide starts going through her daughter's possessions – and finding out how little she really knows Ane at all.
Lide and her ex-husband Fernando, played by Mikel Losada, search for Ane, immersing themselves in the unstable, teenage activist world of their daughter, in a tale of communication and lack of it, of care and carelessness, of works and reconstructions, and complex relationships.
Stars, alongside Lide and Fernando, Luis Callejo, Nagore Aranburu and Jone Laspiur; script by Marina Parés Pulido and David Pérez Sañudo (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Film, Best New Director, Best Adaptation, Best Actress (for Patricia López Arnáiz), and Best New Actress (for Jone Laspiur).
La Boda de Rosa ('Rosa's Wedding')
Coming up to her 45th birthday, Rosa begins to realise she's been living her whole life for and through others, never for herself, and decides to take drastic action: Tell everything and everyone to take a hike, and put herself first for a change. But first, she wants to get married.
To herself.
However, her father, siblings and daughter have other plans for her, and Rosa finds out that changing one's life is never simple when your intentions are not what your family has mapped out for you. In fact, getting married – even marrying yourself – turns out to be the most difficult thing she's ever done.
Stars Candela Peña, Ramón Barea, Sergi López, Nathalie Poza, Xavo Giménez and Paula Usero; script by Alicia Luna and Icíar Bollaín (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Script, Best Original Song (for Que No, Que No, by Rozalén), Best Actress (for Candela Peña), Best Supporting Actor (for Sergi López), Best New Actress (for Paula Usero) and Best Supporting Actress (for Nathalie Poza).
Las Niñas ('The Little Girls')
Celia, 11, goes to a convent school in Zaragoza and lives with her mum. Brisa, her new classmate from Barcelona, pushes Celia towards a new era in her life – the onset of her teenage years. Set during Barcelona's Olympic year, 1992, and described as 'a lucid portrait of a time that defined the women of today', the story follows Celia's discovery of life, lies and truths.
Stars Francesca Piñón and Natalia de Molina; scriptwriter and director Pilar Palomero
Nominated for: Best Film, Best New Director, Best Original Script, Best Original Song (for Lunas de Papel, or 'Paper Moons', by Carlos Naya), Best Supporting Actress (for Natalia de Molina), Best Photographic Direction (for Daniela Cajías), Best Set (for Sofi Escudé), Best Artistic Direction (for Mónica Bernuy), and Best Costume Design (for Arantxa Ezquerro).
Sentimental
Julio and Ana have been a couple for 15 years, but their relationship is tired: They barely notice each other, romance is dead, and all they do is argue.
One night, Ana invites her neighbours, the younger couple Salva and Laura, over. Salva and Laura have always been friendly and welcoming to Julio and Ana, although their 'nocturnal noises' are a bit of a pain.
Or perhaps they're not...
The pair next door make an unusual and surprising proposal, which leads to an excessive, cathartic and altogether turbulent evening for all concerned.
Stars Belén Cuesta, Griselda Siciliani, Javier Cámara and Alberto San Juan. Script and direction by Cesc Gay.
Nominated for: Best Film, Best Adaptation, Best Actor (for Javier Cámara), Best Supporting Actor (for Alberto San Juan), and Best New Actress (for Griselda Siciliani).
Baby
A young addict gives birth, but due to her troubles, is unable to care for her baby, so she sells him to an old midwife.
Later, regretting her decision, she tries to get him back – in the midst of a hostile, violent environment that forces her to face her fears, tackle them head-on, fight for her baby's survival, and try to get a second chance at life.
Stars Rosie Day, Harriet Sansom Harris and Natalia Tena. Script by Elisa Marinas and Juanma Bajo Ulloa (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Direction, and Best Original Soundtrack (for Bingen Mendizábal and Koldo Uriarte).
Nieva en Benidorm ('It's Snowing in Benidorm')
A Spanish original by a veteran director, with a very British feel: Peter Riordan, a methodical and solitary type obsessed by weather conditions, is forced to take early retirement from the bank in Manchester where he has worked all his life. He decides to go and stay with his brother Daniel, who lives in Benidorm, but when he gets there, Peter makes two shock discoveries about his sibling: That he does not just work in a drag club, but actually owns it; and that he's disappeared.
Alex, a mysterious woman who works for Daniel, is an instant and powerful source of fascination for the newly-arrived Peter, and between them, they try to work out what has happened to the missing brother, helped by a policewoman obsessed with the presence of poet and authoress Sylvia Plath in the Costa Blanca holiday capital in the 1950s.
The stars blend in with the typically-Benidorm British holidaymaker and Spanish pensioner thrill-seekers and fun-lovers, whilst embroiled in a thriller of their own and, possibly, love, too.
It's in Benidorm and alongside Alex where Peter discovers that life begins with drawing your pension – even when you'd given up on it and resigned yourself to a humdrum existence.
After all, if it can even snow in Benidorm, then anything, in theory, could happen.
Stars Timothy Spall, Sarita Choudhury, Pedro Casablanc and Carmen Machi; script and direction by Isabel Coixet.
Nominated for: Best Direction and Best Production (for Toni Novella).
El Inconveniente ('The Drawback')
Sara, played by Juana Acosta, is looking to buy a house and finds the perfect property – large, spacious, lots of natural light, and very, very cheap.
There's only one downside to it – the current owner, 70-something Lola (played by Kiti Mánver), wants to carry on living there for the rest of her natural life; hence the exceptionally-low price.
Sara still thinks it's a good deal, though, so she decides to buy it and wait for nature to take its course.
Also stars José Sacristán and Carlos Areces. Script by Juan Carlos Rubio and Bernabé Rico (also the director).
Nominated for: Best New Director, Best Actress (for Kiti Mánver), and Best Supporting Actress (for Juana Acosta).
My Mexican Bretzel
The personal diary of a wealthy woman between the 1940s and 1960s illustrated through her husband, a rich industry tycoon's home videos; a classic melodrama, a romance, and a journey through mid-20th century Europe.
Script and direction by Nuria Giménez Lorang.
Nominated for: Best New Director and Best Documentary Film.
Historias Lamentables ('Pathetic Tales')
A comedy featuring four main storylines which interweave – Ramón, a timid young man, about to inherit the empire built up by his stiff-upper-lipped workaholic father; Bermejo, a pedantic, obsessive-compulsive summer holidaymaker with a horror for anything spontaneous; Ayoub, an African migrant chasing his dream, accompanied by an insufferable woman who seems to have got them into a terrible mess; and Alipio, a small business owner sunk and desperate through his gambling addiction.
Stars Chani Martín, Laura Gómez-Lacueva, Alberto Castrillo-Ferrer, Silvia de Pé, Janick, and Gloria Albalate. Script by Claro García and Javier Fesser (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Original Script, Best New Actor (for Janick) and Best Special Effects (for Raúl Romanillos and Míriam Piquer).
Los Europeos ('The Europeans')
Linesman Miguel Alonso's boss' son Antonio drags him off to Ibiza for a summer break, convincing him how easy it is to pull European tourists. After a few excruciating attempts with a handful of Valencian girls, the two friends find their own sources of hedonism and fun on the island: Antonio lurches from party to party, whilst Miguel prefers to stay in the background and take a quieter approach to his holidays. Until he's seduced by a charming Frenchwoman called Odette, that is.
Stars Raúl Arévalo, Stéphane Caillard, Juan Diego Botto, Carolina Lapausa, Íñigo Aranburu, Georgina Latre, and Kiva Murphy. Directed by Víctor García León. Script by Bernardo Sánchez and Marta Libertad Castillo.
Nominated for: Best Adaptation, Best Supporting Actor (for Juan Diego Botto) and Best Costume Design (for Lena Mossum).
Orígenes Secretos ('Secret Origins')
Madrid, 2019. A serial killer is spreading chaos. Anonymous individuals, with no connection between them at all, are being found dead in circumstances that mirror the début appearances of the world's best-known superheroes. Cosme is the best detective in the force and is about to retire; David, young and impulsive, is being trained to take over from Cosme when he draws his pension. Together, they are charged with slotting the pieces of the jigsaw together in a game they have no idea of the rules for.
They are joined on their adventure by Cosme's nerdy son, Jorge Elías, who owns a comic shop, and their boss Norma, a fan of cosplay and manga.
Stars Javier Rey, Verónica Echegui and Ernesto Alterio. Script by Fernando Navarro and David Galán Galindo (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Adaptation, Best Hair and Makeup (for Paula Cruz, Jesús Guerra and Nacho Díaz), and Best Special Effects (for Lluís Rivera Jove and Helmuth Barnert).
Akelarre
Basque Country, 1609. The men have all gone away to sea. The women, led by Ana, stage a party in the forest. Rostegui, the judge commissioned by the King to 'purify' the region, arrests them and accuses them of witchcraft, determined to do anything it takes to make them confess what they know about the akelarre, a magical initiation ceremony led by the Devil who lures his disciples and marries them off to the women.
Stars Álex Brendemühl, Amaia Aberasturi, Daniel Fanego, Yune Nogueiras and Garazi Urkola. Script by Katell Guillou and Pablo Agüero (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Original Soundtrack (for Aránzazu Calleja and Maite Arroitajauregi), Best Actress (for Amaia Aberasturi), Best Production (for Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles), Best Photographic Direction (for Javier Agirre Erauso), Best Artistic Direction (for Mikel Serrano), Best Costume Design (for Nerea Torrijos), Best Hair and Makeup (for Beatushka Wojtowicz and Ricardo Molina), Best Sound Effects (for Urko Garai, Josefina Rodríguez, Frédéric Hamelin and Leandro de Loredo), and Best Special Effects (for Mariano García Marty and Ana Rubio).
El Verano Que Vivimos ('The Summer We Had')
Isabel, a journalist about to graduate in the summer of 1995, gets work experience at a local newspaper in Cantaloa – but it's not the most exciting of positions; it involves editing the obituaries. This apparently dull job leads to an intriguing investigation into a thwarted romance in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz province) in 1958 – a passionate love triangle between young architect Gonzalo, his best friend Hernán Ibáñez, for whom he is designing a wine merchant's, and Hernán's fiancée Lucía Vega.
The premises Gonzalo designs will be an ambitious construction that ultimately joins two wine-making families after the wedding.
Isabel's quest leads her to Gonzalo's son, and their journey unearths a past filled with jealousy, betrayal and passion – which eventually leads them to rethinking their own lives.
Stars Javier Rey, Blanca Suárez, Manuel Morón, Adelfa Calvo and Pablo Molinero. Script by David Orea, Gema Rodríguez Neira, Javier Chacártegui, Ramón Campos and Salvador S. Molina. Directed by Carlos Sedes.
Nominated for: Best Original Soundtrack (for Federico Jusid) and Best Original Song (for El Verano Que Vivimos, by Alejandro Sanz and Alfonso Pérez Arias).
No Matarás ('You Won't Kill')
Dani, a decent young man who has spent the last few years of his life caring for his terminally-ill father, decides he needs to start living again once it's all over, and plans to go travelling. But then he encounters Mila, sensual, unstable, unsettling, and whose meeting turns out to be a real nightmare – the consequences of which will lead Dani to extremes of behaviour he had never imagined himself capable of before.
Stars Mario Casas, Elisabeth Larena, Fernando Valdivielso and Milena Smit. Script by Jordi Vallejo, Clara Viola and David Victori (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Actor (for Mario Casas), Best New Actor (for Fernando Valdivielso) and Best New Actress (for Milena Smit).
Un Mundo Normal ('A Normal World')
Ernesto, an eccentric, non-conformist theatre director, hears of his mother's death, and steals her coffin so that, in accordance with her wishes in life, he can drop her in the ocean. Ernesto's daughter, played by Gala Amyach, fed up with his batty ideas, goes with him to try to change his mind. But along the journey, she finds out her father isn't as mad as she thought: Sometimes, you have to stay true to yourself, even if it means going against the grain.
Stars Ernesto Alterio (as Ernesto), Pau Durà, Magüi Mira, Óscar Pastor and Gala Amyach. Script and direction by Achero Mañas.
Nominated for: Best Actor (for Ernesto Alterio).
Uno Para Todos ('One for All')
A supply teacher ends up in a village he's never been to before, in a classroom full of 11-year-olds. He is given the task of easing a young, sick boy back into school life, but finds none of his classmates wants him back.
Stars David Verdaguer, Jorge Pobes, Patricia López Arnáiz, Miguel Ángel Tirado and Ana Labordeta. Script by Valentina Viso and Coral Cruz. Directed by David Ilundain.
Nominated for: Best Actor (for David Verdaguer).
Explota Explota ('Explode Explode')
María, played by Ingrid García-Jonsson, is a young, fun-loving dancer with a thirst for freedom; but it's the early 1970s, when Spain is under a dictatorship with an iron-fisted censorship on the arts, media, education and speech, and especially in television.
But even the most difficult of goals can be reached, as viewers find out in this feel-good tale told through the greatest hits of Raffaella Carrà.
Stars Ingrid García-Jonsson, Fernando Tejero, Pedro Casablanc, Natalia Millán, Verónica Echegui, Fernando Guallar and Cristina Rodríguez. Script by David Esteban Cubero, Eduardo Navarro and Nacho Álvarez (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress (for Verónica Echegui), Best Costume Design (for Cristina Rodríguez) and Best Hair and Makeup (for Milu Cabrer and Benjamín Pérez).
El Plan ('The Plan')
Three friends, Paco, Ramón and Andrade, have been unemployed since the security firm they worked for shut down.
It's 09.00 in the morning, and they've arranged to meet to carry out a 'plan'. Numerous hitches stop them leaving the house, and they eventually find themselves embroiled in a series of uncomfortable, heated discussions that will, in the end, break down walls between them and tear their masks off, changing their friendship forever.
Stars Antonio de la Torre, Raúl Arévalo and Chema del Barco. Script by Ignasi Vidal and Polo Menárguez (also the director).
Nominated for: Best New Actor (for Chema del Barco) and Best Sound Effects (for Mar González, Francesco Lucarelli and Nacho Royo-Villanova).
El Año del Descubrimiento ('The Year of the Discovery')
Neighbours, young adults and unemployed people sit inside a bar in Cartagena (Murcia), chatting over cigarettes, drinks and breakfasts, remembering thwarted dreams, sharing work worries, and making plans for the future.
It's 1992, a time of industrial crisis which led to protests and riots. In Cartagena, violence is escalating.
But it's the year of the Barcelona Olympics, the Expo in Sevilla, and of celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas – and Spain is presenting itself to the world as a modern, dynamic and developed country.
Yet crowds are clashing in the street outside, demonstrations are getting out of hand, and the regional Parliament building is about to burn.
Script by Raúl Liarte and Luis López Carrasco (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Set (for Sergio Jiménez) and Best Documentary Film.
Black Beach
Carlos is a senior manager of a huge corporation and is about to be offered a directorship, when he is called upon to mediate in the kidnap of a US petroleum company engineer, held hostage in Africa. If the engineer is not released, it could put a multi-million-dollar deal for Carlos' company in jeopardy.
The trip will lead Carlos to face up to the consequences of his actions in the past, when he was an aid worker in Africa, and forces him to choose between his personal and his professional interests.
Stars Raúl Arévalo, Babou Cham, Emilio Buale, Jimmy Castro, Candela Peña, Melina Matthews, Paulina García and Lidia Nené. Script by David Moreno and Esteban Crespo García (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Production (for Carmen Martínez Muñoz), Best Photographic Direction (for Ángel Amorós), Best Set (for Fernando Franco and Miguel Doblado), Best Artistic Direction (for Montse Sanz), Best Sound Effects (for Coque Lahera, Nacho Royo-Villanova and Sergio Testón), and Best Special Effects (for Raúl Romanillos and Jean-Louis Billard).
Two British productions were nominated for Best European Film, and The Father won the title:
Falling
John Peterson lives in California with his husband Eric and their adopted daughter Monica. Willis, John's father, a lonesome and conservative farmer, agrees to move in with the family whilst he searches for the right place to settle down after he retires. But during his stay, father and son clash violently, opening up old wounds and inflicting new ones, on a painful journey towards acceptance and forgiveness. Stars Lance Henriksen and Viggo Mortensen, who is also director.
The Father
Stars Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins. Anne is feeling desperate because she cannot visit her father daily, and she's worried his mind is starting to fail him. Her father, in his 80s, is sharp-tongued, a bit of a 'lad', somewhat cheeky and very stubborn, obstinately insisting on living alone and rejecting each and every one of the carers Anne tries to employ to help him at home. Directed by Florian Zeller.
Who won?
Akelarre swept the board at the 2021 edition, with an incredible five statuettes – Best Costume Design, Best Special Effects, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Original Soundtrack, and Best Artistic Direction.
Las Niñas hoovered up at this year's Goyas with four awards – Best New Director, Best Original Script, Best Photographic Direction and Best Film.
Adú tied with Las Niñas, scooping up four awards – Best Director, Best New Actor, Best Production and Best Sound Effects.
Ane took three – Best Adaptation, Best New Actress and Best Actress.
La Boda de Rosa won two Goyas – Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song.
El Año del Descubrimiento got awards for both its nominated categories – Best Set and Best Documentary Film.
No Matarás earned Mario Casas a Best Actor award, and Sentimental netted Alberto San Juan the Best Supporting Actor prize.
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SPAIN'S answer to the Oscars, gracing the red carpet at the Goya Awards is every performer's, writer's or director's ultimate goal this side of the pond. Although the weirdest cinema success experience would have to be that of winning a coveted statuette and having to watch your name read out on telly.
That's exactly what happened last night (Saturday, March 6). After all, the 2020 Goyas took place barely a week and a half before the first lockdown, when health bosses in Spain were urging the public not to panic unduly and ruling out mass contagion.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but at least the pandemic did not stop the ceremony altogether – it simply meant that only the presenters, those actually giving out the prizes, and those singing on stage would be at the usual venue in Madrid, and everyone else, even the winners, joined in via Zoom.
In a bid to make it an extra-special evening rather than the let-down it was threatening to be, the organisers went all out with the cast list – starting with one of the two presenters being none other than last year's Best Actor winner Antonio Banderas, who was joined at the mic by María Casado; continuing with prizes being given out by last year's Best Director, Best Original Script and Best Film winner, silver-screen household name Pedro Almodóvar, and by the 2020 nominee for Best Lead Actress Penélope Cruz; and finishing with personal hellos and waves from half of Hollywood to the hopefuls and their friends and family watching with them.
'Half of Hollywood' is only a slight exaggeration: Zoom greetings filling this year's ceremony came from Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Charlize Theron, Dustin Hoffman, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Salma Hayek, Sylvester Stallone, Benicio del Toro, Isabelle Huppert, Monica Bellucci, Ricardo Darín and Laura Dern.
And along with Almodóvar and the most world-famous of his veteran players, other prizegivers were some of Spain's most famous screen stars: Paz Vega, Belén Cuesta, Najwa Nimri, Hiba Abouk, Maggie Civantos, Natalia Verbeke, Leonardo Sbaraglia, and The Others director Alejandro Amenábar, to name just the best-known 50% of them.
Pop sensation Aitana provided some of the music, and so did Princess of Asturias Award-winning Hollywood soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone, albeit posthumously in his case.
Also posthumously, TV actor Quique San Francisco was present in spirit, with tributes given to him following his recent death from pneumonia at the age of 65.
So, in summary, the 2021 Goya Awards were practically perfect in every way except one – the fact there was nobody there. And to have actually been there in person at Málaga's Soho Caixabank Theatre with all the rest of this going on would have made it the most earth-shatteringly, dazzlingly unique experience that the nominees and winners would have been dining out on for the rest of their careers.
Bookies were raking it in with hours to go before the awards changed hands, and it looked to be a very close call – for the Best European Film category, too, with two mainstream British productions gunning for the honour.
But we won't spoil it by telling you who went home with their hands full just yet. Here's a round-up of the entries so you can place your own bets before you read the results at the end of this article.
Remember, if you're curious but aren't comfortable enough with your Spanish to be able to watch them, you can get all of these on DVD or via the usual platforms, and set the subtitles to English.
If you become hooked and want to see more, read about our most-recommended and timeless Spanish films here.
Adú
In a desperate attempt to reach Europe, a six-year-old boy from Cameroon and his elder sister wait on a runway to try to sneak into the hold of an aircraft.
Nearby, a Spanish environmental activist is horrified by the sight of a dead, tuskless elephant, and is attempting to fight against poaching whilst dealing with his recently-arrived daughter's troubles.
Thousands of kilometres to the north, in the Spanish city of Melilla on the northern African coast, a group of Guardia Civil officers are preparing to face the avalanche of would-be migrants waiting to climb the fence over to European territory en masse.
Three tales in which none of the main characters realises they are about to cross paths, their fates intertwined, and their lives never to be the same again.
Stars Luis Tosar, Anna Castillo, Álvaro Cervantes, Jesús Carroza, Miquel Fernández, Ana Wagener, Nora Navas and Adam Nourou; directed by Salvador Calvo, script by Alejandro Hernández.
Nominated for: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Script, Best Original Soundtrack (for composer Roque Baños), Best Original Song (for Sababoo, by Roque Baños and Cherif Badua), Best Supporting Actor (for Álvaro Cervantes), Best New Actor (for Adam Nourou), Best Production (for Ana Parra and Luis Fernández Lago), Best Photographic Direction (for Sergi Vilanova Claudín), Best Set (for Jaime Colis), Best Artistic Direction (for César Macarrón), Best Hair and Makeup (for Elena Cuevas, Mara Collazo and Sergio López), and Best Sound Effects (for Eduardo Esquide, Jamaica Ruiz García, Juan Ferro and Nicolás de Poulpiquet).
Ane
Lide, played by Patricia López Arnáiz, works as a security guard for a high-speed railway line under construction – a project that has sparked widespread civil unrest and protests – and, arriving home at the end of her shift and an all-night party in time for breakfast, finds her teenage daughter Ane missing. Initially believing the young woman had walked out due to a row they had had the day before, Lide starts going through her daughter's possessions – and finding out how little she really knows Ane at all.
Lide and her ex-husband Fernando, played by Mikel Losada, search for Ane, immersing themselves in the unstable, teenage activist world of their daughter, in a tale of communication and lack of it, of care and carelessness, of works and reconstructions, and complex relationships.
Stars, alongside Lide and Fernando, Luis Callejo, Nagore Aranburu and Jone Laspiur; script by Marina Parés Pulido and David Pérez Sañudo (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Film, Best New Director, Best Adaptation, Best Actress (for Patricia López Arnáiz), and Best New Actress (for Jone Laspiur).
La Boda de Rosa ('Rosa's Wedding')
Coming up to her 45th birthday, Rosa begins to realise she's been living her whole life for and through others, never for herself, and decides to take drastic action: Tell everything and everyone to take a hike, and put herself first for a change. But first, she wants to get married.
To herself.
However, her father, siblings and daughter have other plans for her, and Rosa finds out that changing one's life is never simple when your intentions are not what your family has mapped out for you. In fact, getting married – even marrying yourself – turns out to be the most difficult thing she's ever done.
Stars Candela Peña, Ramón Barea, Sergi López, Nathalie Poza, Xavo Giménez and Paula Usero; script by Alicia Luna and Icíar Bollaín (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Script, Best Original Song (for Que No, Que No, by Rozalén), Best Actress (for Candela Peña), Best Supporting Actor (for Sergi López), Best New Actress (for Paula Usero) and Best Supporting Actress (for Nathalie Poza).
Las Niñas ('The Little Girls')
Celia, 11, goes to a convent school in Zaragoza and lives with her mum. Brisa, her new classmate from Barcelona, pushes Celia towards a new era in her life – the onset of her teenage years. Set during Barcelona's Olympic year, 1992, and described as 'a lucid portrait of a time that defined the women of today', the story follows Celia's discovery of life, lies and truths.
Stars Francesca Piñón and Natalia de Molina; scriptwriter and director Pilar Palomero
Nominated for: Best Film, Best New Director, Best Original Script, Best Original Song (for Lunas de Papel, or 'Paper Moons', by Carlos Naya), Best Supporting Actress (for Natalia de Molina), Best Photographic Direction (for Daniela Cajías), Best Set (for Sofi Escudé), Best Artistic Direction (for Mónica Bernuy), and Best Costume Design (for Arantxa Ezquerro).
Sentimental
Julio and Ana have been a couple for 15 years, but their relationship is tired: They barely notice each other, romance is dead, and all they do is argue.
One night, Ana invites her neighbours, the younger couple Salva and Laura, over. Salva and Laura have always been friendly and welcoming to Julio and Ana, although their 'nocturnal noises' are a bit of a pain.
Or perhaps they're not...
The pair next door make an unusual and surprising proposal, which leads to an excessive, cathartic and altogether turbulent evening for all concerned.
Stars Belén Cuesta, Griselda Siciliani, Javier Cámara and Alberto San Juan. Script and direction by Cesc Gay.
Nominated for: Best Film, Best Adaptation, Best Actor (for Javier Cámara), Best Supporting Actor (for Alberto San Juan), and Best New Actress (for Griselda Siciliani).
Baby
A young addict gives birth, but due to her troubles, is unable to care for her baby, so she sells him to an old midwife.
Later, regretting her decision, she tries to get him back – in the midst of a hostile, violent environment that forces her to face her fears, tackle them head-on, fight for her baby's survival, and try to get a second chance at life.
Stars Rosie Day, Harriet Sansom Harris and Natalia Tena. Script by Elisa Marinas and Juanma Bajo Ulloa (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Direction, and Best Original Soundtrack (for Bingen Mendizábal and Koldo Uriarte).
Nieva en Benidorm ('It's Snowing in Benidorm')
A Spanish original by a veteran director, with a very British feel: Peter Riordan, a methodical and solitary type obsessed by weather conditions, is forced to take early retirement from the bank in Manchester where he has worked all his life. He decides to go and stay with his brother Daniel, who lives in Benidorm, but when he gets there, Peter makes two shock discoveries about his sibling: That he does not just work in a drag club, but actually owns it; and that he's disappeared.
Alex, a mysterious woman who works for Daniel, is an instant and powerful source of fascination for the newly-arrived Peter, and between them, they try to work out what has happened to the missing brother, helped by a policewoman obsessed with the presence of poet and authoress Sylvia Plath in the Costa Blanca holiday capital in the 1950s.
The stars blend in with the typically-Benidorm British holidaymaker and Spanish pensioner thrill-seekers and fun-lovers, whilst embroiled in a thriller of their own and, possibly, love, too.
It's in Benidorm and alongside Alex where Peter discovers that life begins with drawing your pension – even when you'd given up on it and resigned yourself to a humdrum existence.
After all, if it can even snow in Benidorm, then anything, in theory, could happen.
Stars Timothy Spall, Sarita Choudhury, Pedro Casablanc and Carmen Machi; script and direction by Isabel Coixet.
Nominated for: Best Direction and Best Production (for Toni Novella).
El Inconveniente ('The Drawback')
Sara, played by Juana Acosta, is looking to buy a house and finds the perfect property – large, spacious, lots of natural light, and very, very cheap.
There's only one downside to it – the current owner, 70-something Lola (played by Kiti Mánver), wants to carry on living there for the rest of her natural life; hence the exceptionally-low price.
Sara still thinks it's a good deal, though, so she decides to buy it and wait for nature to take its course.
Also stars José Sacristán and Carlos Areces. Script by Juan Carlos Rubio and Bernabé Rico (also the director).
Nominated for: Best New Director, Best Actress (for Kiti Mánver), and Best Supporting Actress (for Juana Acosta).
My Mexican Bretzel
The personal diary of a wealthy woman between the 1940s and 1960s illustrated through her husband, a rich industry tycoon's home videos; a classic melodrama, a romance, and a journey through mid-20th century Europe.
Script and direction by Nuria Giménez Lorang.
Nominated for: Best New Director and Best Documentary Film.
Historias Lamentables ('Pathetic Tales')
A comedy featuring four main storylines which interweave – Ramón, a timid young man, about to inherit the empire built up by his stiff-upper-lipped workaholic father; Bermejo, a pedantic, obsessive-compulsive summer holidaymaker with a horror for anything spontaneous; Ayoub, an African migrant chasing his dream, accompanied by an insufferable woman who seems to have got them into a terrible mess; and Alipio, a small business owner sunk and desperate through his gambling addiction.
Stars Chani Martín, Laura Gómez-Lacueva, Alberto Castrillo-Ferrer, Silvia de Pé, Janick, and Gloria Albalate. Script by Claro García and Javier Fesser (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Original Script, Best New Actor (for Janick) and Best Special Effects (for Raúl Romanillos and Míriam Piquer).
Los Europeos ('The Europeans')
Linesman Miguel Alonso's boss' son Antonio drags him off to Ibiza for a summer break, convincing him how easy it is to pull European tourists. After a few excruciating attempts with a handful of Valencian girls, the two friends find their own sources of hedonism and fun on the island: Antonio lurches from party to party, whilst Miguel prefers to stay in the background and take a quieter approach to his holidays. Until he's seduced by a charming Frenchwoman called Odette, that is.
Stars Raúl Arévalo, Stéphane Caillard, Juan Diego Botto, Carolina Lapausa, Íñigo Aranburu, Georgina Latre, and Kiva Murphy. Directed by Víctor García León. Script by Bernardo Sánchez and Marta Libertad Castillo.
Nominated for: Best Adaptation, Best Supporting Actor (for Juan Diego Botto) and Best Costume Design (for Lena Mossum).
Orígenes Secretos ('Secret Origins')
Madrid, 2019. A serial killer is spreading chaos. Anonymous individuals, with no connection between them at all, are being found dead in circumstances that mirror the début appearances of the world's best-known superheroes. Cosme is the best detective in the force and is about to retire; David, young and impulsive, is being trained to take over from Cosme when he draws his pension. Together, they are charged with slotting the pieces of the jigsaw together in a game they have no idea of the rules for.
They are joined on their adventure by Cosme's nerdy son, Jorge Elías, who owns a comic shop, and their boss Norma, a fan of cosplay and manga.
Stars Javier Rey, Verónica Echegui and Ernesto Alterio. Script by Fernando Navarro and David Galán Galindo (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Adaptation, Best Hair and Makeup (for Paula Cruz, Jesús Guerra and Nacho Díaz), and Best Special Effects (for Lluís Rivera Jove and Helmuth Barnert).
Akelarre
Basque Country, 1609. The men have all gone away to sea. The women, led by Ana, stage a party in the forest. Rostegui, the judge commissioned by the King to 'purify' the region, arrests them and accuses them of witchcraft, determined to do anything it takes to make them confess what they know about the akelarre, a magical initiation ceremony led by the Devil who lures his disciples and marries them off to the women.
Stars Álex Brendemühl, Amaia Aberasturi, Daniel Fanego, Yune Nogueiras and Garazi Urkola. Script by Katell Guillou and Pablo Agüero (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Original Soundtrack (for Aránzazu Calleja and Maite Arroitajauregi), Best Actress (for Amaia Aberasturi), Best Production (for Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles), Best Photographic Direction (for Javier Agirre Erauso), Best Artistic Direction (for Mikel Serrano), Best Costume Design (for Nerea Torrijos), Best Hair and Makeup (for Beatushka Wojtowicz and Ricardo Molina), Best Sound Effects (for Urko Garai, Josefina Rodríguez, Frédéric Hamelin and Leandro de Loredo), and Best Special Effects (for Mariano García Marty and Ana Rubio).
El Verano Que Vivimos ('The Summer We Had')
Isabel, a journalist about to graduate in the summer of 1995, gets work experience at a local newspaper in Cantaloa – but it's not the most exciting of positions; it involves editing the obituaries. This apparently dull job leads to an intriguing investigation into a thwarted romance in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz province) in 1958 – a passionate love triangle between young architect Gonzalo, his best friend Hernán Ibáñez, for whom he is designing a wine merchant's, and Hernán's fiancée Lucía Vega.
The premises Gonzalo designs will be an ambitious construction that ultimately joins two wine-making families after the wedding.
Isabel's quest leads her to Gonzalo's son, and their journey unearths a past filled with jealousy, betrayal and passion – which eventually leads them to rethinking their own lives.
Stars Javier Rey, Blanca Suárez, Manuel Morón, Adelfa Calvo and Pablo Molinero. Script by David Orea, Gema Rodríguez Neira, Javier Chacártegui, Ramón Campos and Salvador S. Molina. Directed by Carlos Sedes.
Nominated for: Best Original Soundtrack (for Federico Jusid) and Best Original Song (for El Verano Que Vivimos, by Alejandro Sanz and Alfonso Pérez Arias).
No Matarás ('You Won't Kill')
Dani, a decent young man who has spent the last few years of his life caring for his terminally-ill father, decides he needs to start living again once it's all over, and plans to go travelling. But then he encounters Mila, sensual, unstable, unsettling, and whose meeting turns out to be a real nightmare – the consequences of which will lead Dani to extremes of behaviour he had never imagined himself capable of before.
Stars Mario Casas, Elisabeth Larena, Fernando Valdivielso and Milena Smit. Script by Jordi Vallejo, Clara Viola and David Victori (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Actor (for Mario Casas), Best New Actor (for Fernando Valdivielso) and Best New Actress (for Milena Smit).
Un Mundo Normal ('A Normal World')
Ernesto, an eccentric, non-conformist theatre director, hears of his mother's death, and steals her coffin so that, in accordance with her wishes in life, he can drop her in the ocean. Ernesto's daughter, played by Gala Amyach, fed up with his batty ideas, goes with him to try to change his mind. But along the journey, she finds out her father isn't as mad as she thought: Sometimes, you have to stay true to yourself, even if it means going against the grain.
Stars Ernesto Alterio (as Ernesto), Pau Durà, Magüi Mira, Óscar Pastor and Gala Amyach. Script and direction by Achero Mañas.
Nominated for: Best Actor (for Ernesto Alterio).
Uno Para Todos ('One for All')
A supply teacher ends up in a village he's never been to before, in a classroom full of 11-year-olds. He is given the task of easing a young, sick boy back into school life, but finds none of his classmates wants him back.
Stars David Verdaguer, Jorge Pobes, Patricia López Arnáiz, Miguel Ángel Tirado and Ana Labordeta. Script by Valentina Viso and Coral Cruz. Directed by David Ilundain.
Nominated for: Best Actor (for David Verdaguer).
Explota Explota ('Explode Explode')
María, played by Ingrid García-Jonsson, is a young, fun-loving dancer with a thirst for freedom; but it's the early 1970s, when Spain is under a dictatorship with an iron-fisted censorship on the arts, media, education and speech, and especially in television.
But even the most difficult of goals can be reached, as viewers find out in this feel-good tale told through the greatest hits of Raffaella Carrà.
Stars Ingrid García-Jonsson, Fernando Tejero, Pedro Casablanc, Natalia Millán, Verónica Echegui, Fernando Guallar and Cristina Rodríguez. Script by David Esteban Cubero, Eduardo Navarro and Nacho Álvarez (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress (for Verónica Echegui), Best Costume Design (for Cristina Rodríguez) and Best Hair and Makeup (for Milu Cabrer and Benjamín Pérez).
El Plan ('The Plan')
Three friends, Paco, Ramón and Andrade, have been unemployed since the security firm they worked for shut down.
It's 09.00 in the morning, and they've arranged to meet to carry out a 'plan'. Numerous hitches stop them leaving the house, and they eventually find themselves embroiled in a series of uncomfortable, heated discussions that will, in the end, break down walls between them and tear their masks off, changing their friendship forever.
Stars Antonio de la Torre, Raúl Arévalo and Chema del Barco. Script by Ignasi Vidal and Polo Menárguez (also the director).
Nominated for: Best New Actor (for Chema del Barco) and Best Sound Effects (for Mar González, Francesco Lucarelli and Nacho Royo-Villanova).
El Año del Descubrimiento ('The Year of the Discovery')
Neighbours, young adults and unemployed people sit inside a bar in Cartagena (Murcia), chatting over cigarettes, drinks and breakfasts, remembering thwarted dreams, sharing work worries, and making plans for the future.
It's 1992, a time of industrial crisis which led to protests and riots. In Cartagena, violence is escalating.
But it's the year of the Barcelona Olympics, the Expo in Sevilla, and of celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas – and Spain is presenting itself to the world as a modern, dynamic and developed country.
Yet crowds are clashing in the street outside, demonstrations are getting out of hand, and the regional Parliament building is about to burn.
Script by Raúl Liarte and Luis López Carrasco (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Set (for Sergio Jiménez) and Best Documentary Film.
Black Beach
Carlos is a senior manager of a huge corporation and is about to be offered a directorship, when he is called upon to mediate in the kidnap of a US petroleum company engineer, held hostage in Africa. If the engineer is not released, it could put a multi-million-dollar deal for Carlos' company in jeopardy.
The trip will lead Carlos to face up to the consequences of his actions in the past, when he was an aid worker in Africa, and forces him to choose between his personal and his professional interests.
Stars Raúl Arévalo, Babou Cham, Emilio Buale, Jimmy Castro, Candela Peña, Melina Matthews, Paulina García and Lidia Nené. Script by David Moreno and Esteban Crespo García (also the director).
Nominated for: Best Production (for Carmen Martínez Muñoz), Best Photographic Direction (for Ángel Amorós), Best Set (for Fernando Franco and Miguel Doblado), Best Artistic Direction (for Montse Sanz), Best Sound Effects (for Coque Lahera, Nacho Royo-Villanova and Sergio Testón), and Best Special Effects (for Raúl Romanillos and Jean-Louis Billard).
Two British productions were nominated for Best European Film, and The Father won the title:
Falling
John Peterson lives in California with his husband Eric and their adopted daughter Monica. Willis, John's father, a lonesome and conservative farmer, agrees to move in with the family whilst he searches for the right place to settle down after he retires. But during his stay, father and son clash violently, opening up old wounds and inflicting new ones, on a painful journey towards acceptance and forgiveness. Stars Lance Henriksen and Viggo Mortensen, who is also director.
The Father
Stars Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins. Anne is feeling desperate because she cannot visit her father daily, and she's worried his mind is starting to fail him. Her father, in his 80s, is sharp-tongued, a bit of a 'lad', somewhat cheeky and very stubborn, obstinately insisting on living alone and rejecting each and every one of the carers Anne tries to employ to help him at home. Directed by Florian Zeller.
Who won?
Akelarre swept the board at the 2021 edition, with an incredible five statuettes – Best Costume Design, Best Special Effects, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Original Soundtrack, and Best Artistic Direction.
Las Niñas hoovered up at this year's Goyas with four awards – Best New Director, Best Original Script, Best Photographic Direction and Best Film.
Adú tied with Las Niñas, scooping up four awards – Best Director, Best New Actor, Best Production and Best Sound Effects.
Ane took three – Best Adaptation, Best New Actress and Best Actress.
La Boda de Rosa won two Goyas – Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song.
El Año del Descubrimiento got awards for both its nominated categories – Best Set and Best Documentary Film.
No Matarás earned Mario Casas a Best Actor award, and Sentimental netted Alberto San Juan the Best Supporting Actor prize.
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