Catalan cinema gets ready for its ‘Oscar’ Ceremony, the 4th Gaudí Awards

Barcelona (CNA).- This Monday evening Catalan cinema will get dressed up for the 4^th Gaudí Awards ceremony, organised by the Catalan Film Academy. The event will take place at the Artèria Paral·lel theatre in Barcelona and will be hosted by Catalan actors Xavi Mira and Alba Florejachs. ‘Eva’, by Catalan director Kike Maíllo casting German-Catalan actor Daniel Brühl, is the hot favourite after receiving 16 nominations. ‘Eva’ takes place in 2041, when people live with mechanical creatures and an engineer (Daniel Brühl) is asked to create a robot child. Catalan filmmaker Pere Portabella will be given the honorific award for his cinematographic career.

The Gaudí Awards gather directors, actors, producers and other leading names from the filmmaking world from Catalonia, Spain and worldwide. A total of 29 productions have been nominated, within 22 categories. 41 feature films, 32 documental movies, 6 animation films, 13 movies for television and 46 short-films are taking part in the event.

Stars of the night

‘Eva’ is the most nominated film of this year’s ceremony. Catalan director Kike Maíllo’s science fiction movie about a mechanical future has received 16 nominations, including Best Catalan Language Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actor.

‘Mientras duermes’ (‘While you sleep’), about the obsession of a gatekeeper with one of his building’s neighbours, is the second most nominated film and is one of the contenders for Best Director award, among others. Catalan director Daniel Benmayor’s ‘Bruc, la llegenda’ (‘Bruc, the legend’) film has 12 nominations. ‘Bruc’ is based on the legend of a young hero who defeats the invincible army of Napoleon in Catalonia. Two films have 6 nominations each: ‘Chico & Rita’, by Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal –whose design studio is based in Barcelona–, and Tono Errando, and ‘Open 24 hores’ (‘Open 24 hours’), by Catalan filmmaker Carles Torras. These two movies are both nominated in the Best Director category.

Science fiction, adventure, horror, drama…

‘Eva’, ‘Bruc, la llegenda’ (‘Bruc, the legend’), ‘Open 24 hores’ (‘Open 24 hours’) and ‘Catalunya über alles!’ (‘Catalonia über alles!’), filmed by director Ramon Térmens, are nominated for Best Catalan Language Film award. This latter production is a fictional-documentary that reflects about how Catalan society deals with immigration. In the foreign language film category, the candidates are ‘De mayor quiero ser soldado’ (‘I want to be a soldier’), made by Catalan director Christian Molina; Spanish filmmaker Iciair Bollaín’s ‘Katmandú, un espejo en el cielo’ (‘Kathmandu, a mirror in the sky’); ‘Los pasos dobles’ (‘Double steps’), by Isaki Lacuesta; and ‘Mientras duermes’ (‘While you sleep’), directed by Catalan Jaume Balagueró. Isaki Lacuesta’s film won at the San Sebastián Festival last September.

Directors made in Catalonia

In this 4^th edition of the Gaudí Awards, Kike Maíllo (‘Eva’), Jaume Balagueró (‘Mientras duermes’ or ‘While you sleep’), Carles Torras (‘Open 24 hores’ or ‘Open 24 hours’) and Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba (‘Chico & Rita’) compete in the Best Director category. The directors of ‘Chico & Rita’ are the only ones not originally from Catalonia, although Javier Mariscal has been living in Barcelona for more than three decades and he has his design studio based in the Catalan capital.

Top level competition among actors and actresses

Catalan actresses Claudia Vega (‘Eva’) and Astrid Bergès-Frisbey (‘Bruc’) compete against Verónica Echegui from Madrid (‘Katmandú’) and Basque actress Marta Etura (‘Mientras duermes’ or ‘While you sleep’) in the category of Best Actress. In the men’s case, German-Catalan actor Daniel Brühl (‘Eva’), Juan José Ballesta from Madrid (‘Bruc’), Catalan Amadís de Murga (‘Open 24 hores’ or ‘Open 24 hours’) and Galician Luis Tosar (Mientras duermes) opt for the Best Actor award.

In the Best Supporting Actor category, the nominees are Alberto San Juan from Madrid (‘Mientras duermes’ or ‘While you sleep’), Catalan actor Jose María Blanco (‘Open 24 hores’ or ‘Open 24 hours’), and Catalans Jordi Dauder, who died last September, (‘Catalonia über alles’) and Lluís Homar (‘Eva’). The female category of this award entirely speaks Catalan given that Anne Canovas (‘Eva’), Belen Fabra (‘Catalunya uber alles’), Vicky Peña (‘Catalunya uber alles’) and Judith Uriach (‘Open 24 hores’) are all up for the Best Supporting Actress award.

Other awards

‘Al final de la escapada’ (‘At the end of the breakaway’); ‘Barcelona, abans que el temps ho esborri’ (‘Barcelona, ??before time erases it’); ‘Enxaneta’, and ‘La maleta mexicana’ (‘The Mexican suitcase’) are the nominees in the Best Documentary category. European cinema will take part in this edition and Tom Hooper’s ‘El discurso del rey’ (‘The King’s Speech’); ‘Melancolía’ (‘Melancholia’), directed by Lars Von Trier; ‘No habrá paz para los malvados’ (‘No peace for the wicked’), filmed by Basque director Enrique Urbizu; and ‘Pina’, directed by Wim Wenders, will participate in the category of Best European Film.

The Gaudí award for Best Special Effects will be for ‘Bruc’, ‘Eva’, ‘Mientras duermes’ (‘While you sleep’) or ‘Floquet de Neu’ (‘Snowflake’), which will also compete in the category of Best Animation Film award, competing against ‘Arrugas’ (‘Wrinkles’), ‘Chico & Rita’ and ‘Rovelló i la llegenda de Sant Jordi’ (‘Rovelló and the legend of Sant Jordi’). Finally, ‘Eva’, ‘Mientras duermes’ (‘While you sleep’), ‘Catalunya über alles’ (‘Catalonia über alles’) and ‘Chico & Rita’ are nominated in Best Screenplay category.

Now the die is cast. This evening we will know the name of the winners.