A thriller about corrupt politicians and a feel-good comedy about special-needs basketball players will face off at the 33rd annual edition of Spain’s top film honors, the Goya Awards, taking place in Seville on Feb. 2.
With 13 nods, political thriller The Realm led the nominations to the Goya Awards unveiled Wednesday in Madrid, followed closely by Spain’s foreign-language Oscar nominee Champions, which got 11 nods.
Both will compete for best film against Asghar Farhadi’s Everybody Knows, San Sebastian International Film Festival Golden Shell winner Between Two Waters, and Carmen & Lola, the Madrid-set love story between two gypsy women that premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
In a noteworthy show for female directors, Arantxa Echevarria, whose Carmen & Lola earned seven nominations, will face off against two other women for the best new director award, including Ana by Day’s Andrea Jaurrieta and Celia Rico Clavellino for Journey to a Mother’s Room. The other nominees are Cesar Esteban Alenda and Jose Esteban Alenda for love tale Sin Fin.
Iranian director Farhadi earned a total eight nominations for his Spain-set thriller, including nods for director and for his original script, and for stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in the best actress and actor categories, respectively.
Champions’ Javier Fesser and The Realm’s Rodrigo Sorogoyen are also up for best director, competing against Between Two Waters’ Isaki Lacuesta.
Echevarria will compete for the best original script Goya for Carmen & Lola against Farhadi, Fesser and co-scripter David Marques, as well as Sorogoyen and co-writer Isabel Pena. Best adapted script nominations went to Marta Sofia Martins and Natxo Lopez for comedy Jefe, Alvaro Brechner for A Twelve-Year Night, Borja Cobeaga and Diego San Jose for Superlopez and Paul Laverty for Yuli.
Javier Gutierrez, who plays a pro basketball coach facing tough-yet-hilarious life lessons when he’s sentenced to community service coaching a disabled team in Champions, is nominated for best actor alongside Bardem, The Realm’s crooked politician Antonio de la Torre, and veteran Jose Coronado as a father seeking vigilante justice in Your Son.
De la Torre is also nominated for best supporting actor for his role in Uruguay-set historical drama A Twelve-Year Night, where he’ll compete with Juan Margallo for Champions, Luiz Zahera for The Realm and Eduard Fernandez for Everybody Knows.
Some critics may miss director and script recognition at the Goyas for Carlos Vermut’s well-received Quien te Cantara, which earned seven nominations, including nods in the female acting categories.
Facing off for best actress against Cruz are veterans Najwa Nimri, playing a singer with amnesia in Quien Te Cantara, and Lola Duenas for her role as a newly empty-nest mother in Journey to a Mother’s Room, as well as Susi Sanchez from mother-daughter tale Sunday’s Illness.
Up for supporting actress are Natalia de Molina for Quien te Cantara, Carolina Yuste for Carmen & Lola, Anna Castillo for Journey to a Mother’s Room and Ana Wagener in The Realm.
Many of the same films earned best new actor and actress nominations as well, including: Champions’ Jesus Vidal and Gloria Ramos; Moreno Borja and two actresses, Rosy Rodriguez and Zaira Romero, for Carmen & Lola; Eva Llorach for Quien te Cantara; Francisco Reyes for The Realm; and Carlos Acosta for playing a young Cuban dancer in Yuli, one of this title’s five Goya nominations.
Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma leads the nominees for best Ibero-American film, competing against Argentina’s El Angel, Uruguay’s The Twelve-Year Night and Chile’s Los Perros.
Best European Award nominations came with no real surprise. They are for Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, Lukas Dhont’s Girl and Sally Potter’s The Party.
Terry Gilliam’s long-awaited The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a Spanish co-production, also earned five nominations, for original song, production design, art direction, hair and makeup and costume design. Concentration camp historical drama The Photographer of Mauthausen earned nominations in the same latter four categories.
33rd GOYA AWARD NOMINEES
BEST PICTURE
“Champions,” (Javier Fesser)
“Carmel & Lola,” (Arantxa Echevarría)
“The Realm,” (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
“Between Two Waters,” (Isaki Lacuesta)
“Everybody Knows,” (Asghar Farhadi)
BEST DIRECTOR
Javier Fesser, (“Champions”)
Rodrigo Sorogoyen, (“The Realm)
Isaki Lacuesta, (“Between Two Waters”)
Asghar Farhadi, (“Everybody Knows”)
BEST ACTRESS
Susi Sánchez, (“Sunday’s Illness”)
Najwa Nimri, (“Quien te cantará”)
Penélope Cruz, (“Everybody Knows”)
Lola Dueñas, (“Journey to a Mother’s Room”)
BEST ACTOR
Javier Gutiérrez, (“Champions”)
Antonio de la Torre, (“The Realm”)
Javier Bardem, (“Everybody Knows”)
Jose Coronado, (“Tu Hijo”)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Carolina Yuste, (“Carmen & Lola”)
Ana Wagener, (“The Realm”)
Natalia de Molina, (“Quien te cantará”)
Anna Castillo, (“Journey to a Mother’s Room”)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Juan Margallo, (“Champions”)
Luis Zahera, (“The Realm”)
Antonio de la Torre, (“A Twelve-Year Night”)
Eduard Fernández, (“Everybody Knows”)
BREAKOUT ACTRESS
Gloria Ramos, (“Champions”)
Rosy Rodríguez, (“Carmen & Lola”)
Zaira Romero, (“Carmen & Lola”)
Eva Llorach, (“Quien te cantará”)
BREAKOUT ACTOR
Jesús Vidal, (“Champions”)
Moreno Borja, (“Carmen & Lola”)
Francisco Reyes, (“The Realm”)
Carlos Acosta (“Yuli”)
BREAKOUT DIRECTOR
Andrea Jaurrieta, (“Ana de Ana”)
Arantxa Echevarría, (“Carmen & Lola”)
César Esteban Alenda, José Esteban Alenda, (“Sin Fin”)
Celia Rico, (“Journey to a Mother’s Room”)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
David Marqués, Javier Fesser, (“Champions”)
Arantxa Echevarría (“Carmen & Lola”)
Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, (“The Realm”)
Asghar Farhadi, (“Everybody Knows”)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Marta Sofía Martins, Natxo López, (“Jefe”)
Álvaro Brechner, (“A Twelve-Year Night”)
Borja Cobeaga, Diego San José, (“Superlópez”)
Paul Laverty, (“Yuli”)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Azahar,” (Rafael Ruiz)
“Bikes the Movie,” (Manuel J. García)
“Memorias de un hombre en pijama,” (Carlos Fernández de Vigo)
“Another Day of Life,” (Damian Nenow, Raúl de la Fuente)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Apuntes para una película de atracos,” (Elías León Siminiani)
“Camarón: Flamenco & Revolution, (Alexis Morante)
“The Silence of Others,” (Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar)
“Sad Hill Unearthed” (Guillermo de Oliveira)
BEST EUROPEAN FILM
“Cold War,” (Pawel Pawlikowsky, Poland, France, U.K.)
“Phantom Thread,” (Paul Thomas Anderson, U.K., U.S.A.)
“Girl,” (Lukas Dhont, Netherlands, Belgium)
“The Party,” (Sally Potter, U.K.)
BEST LATIN AMERICAN FILM
“El Angél” (Luis Ortega, Argentina)
“A Twelve-Year Night,” (Álvaro Brechner, Uruguay)
“Los Perros,” (Marcela Said, Chile)
“Roma,” (Alfonso Cuarón, Mexico)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Olivier Arson, (“The Realm”)
Iván Palomares, (“En las estrellas”)
Manuel Riveiro, Xavi Font, (“Gun City”)
Alberto Iglesias, (“Yuli”)
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Este es el momento” (Coque Malla, “Champions”)
“Me vas a extrañar” (Paco de la Rosa, “Carmen & Lola”)
“Tarde azul de abril” (Roque Baños,Tessy Díez Martín, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”)
“Una de esas noches sin final,” (Javier Limón, “Everybody Knows”)
BEST SOUND
Arman Ciudad, Charly Schmukler, Alfonso Raposo, (“Champions”)
Roberto Fernández, Alfonso Raposo, (“The Realm”)
Daniel de Zayas, Eduardo Castro, Mario González, (“Quien te cantará”)
Eva Valiño, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Alberto Ovejero, (“Yuli”)
BEST LINE PRODUCTION
Luis Fernández Lago, (“Champions”)
Eduard Vallès, Hanga Kurucz, (“The Photographer of Mauthausen”)
Yousaf Bokhari, (“The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”)
Iñaki Ros, (“The Realm”)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Alejandro de Pablo, (“The Realm”)
Josu Incháustegui, (“Gun City”)
Eduard Grau, (“Quien te cantará”)
Álex Catalán, (“Yuli”)
BEST EDITING
Javier Fesser, (“Champions”)
Alberto del Campo, (“The Realm”)
Hayedeh Safiyari, (“Everybody Knows”)
Fernando Franco, (“Journey to a Mother’s Room”)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Rosa Ros, (“The Photographer of Mauthausen”)
Benjamín Fernández, (“The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”)
Juan Pedro de Gaspar, (“Gun City”)
Balter Gallart, (“Superlópez”)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Mercè Paloma, (“The Photographer of Mauthausen”)
Lena Mossum, (“The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”)
Clara Bilbao, (“Gun City”)
Ana López Cobos, (“Quien te cantará”)
BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Caitlin Acheson, Jesús Martos, Pablo Perona, (“The Photographer of Mauthausen”)
Sylvie Imbert, Amparo Sánchez, Pablo Perona, (“The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”)
Raquel Fidalgo, Noé Montes, Alberto Hortas, (“Gun City”)
Rafael Mora, Anabel Beato, (“Quien te cantará”)
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
Óscar Abades, Helmuth Barnert, (“The Realm”)
Jon Serrano, David Heras, (“Errementari”)
Lluís Rivera, Félix Bergés, (“Gun City”)
Lluís Rivera, Laura Pedro, (“Superlópez”)
BEST SHORT FILM – FICTION
“9 pasos,” (Marisa Crespo, Moisés Romera)
“Bailaora,” (Rubin Stein)
“Cerdita,” (Carlota Pereda)
“El niño que quería volar,” (Jorge Muriel)
“Matria,” (Álvaro Gago)
BEST SHORT FILM – DOCUMENTARY
“The Treasure,” (Marisa Lafuente, Néstor Del Castillo)
“Gaza,” (Carles Bover Martínez, Julio Pérez del Campo)
“Kyoko,” (Joan Bover, Marcos Cabotá)
“Wan Xia. La última luz del atardecer,” (Silvia Rey Canudo)
BEST SHORT FILM – ANIMATION
“Cazatalentos,” (José Herrera)
“El olvido,” (Cristina Vaello, Xenia Grey)
“I Wish…” (Víctor L. Pinel)
“Soy una tumba” (Khris Cembe)
From Hollywood Reporter