Cate Blanchett is in Valencia to collect the International Goya, a new distinction that arises with the purpose of rewarding figures with global impact. The Australian actress and producer appeared at the Palau de les Arts at 11:45 am accompanied by Mariano Barroso, president of the Film Academy. She greeted him with a “Good morning” in Spanish. «I want to thank Mariano Barroso and the Film Academy. “I was speechless when I found out about the award,” she said.
«Every award is a surprise. When I finish a movie, I ask myself, what now? I don’t usually look back, because I am aware that how the public receives the work varies,” she commented, while emphasizing that she comes from Australia, which has a “small but powerful audiovisual industry.” «Being in Valencia receiving a Goya award means a lot. It is reaching an audience and culture that I did not expect but that satisfies me enormously,” commented the actress, who has emphasized the social power of cinema.
Asked which award she values most, Blanchett used a sense of humor: “My favorite award is the Goya, the one they are going to give me today.” Next, the actress stressed that she does not know the paths through which she will take her career. What she does know is her immediate project. Cate Blanchett will be the protagonist of Pedro Almodóvar’s next film. This is the adaptation of the novel ‘Manual for Cleaning Ladies’, by Lucía Berlin. The director from La Mancha is nominated for best director for ‘Parallel Mothers’, a film that is up for another five statuettes at the 36th edition of the Goya Awards, which is being held this Saturday. “Spanish or Spanish cinema is a fundamental reference,” she commented this morning at the Palau de les Arts. And she has highlighted Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenábar. “Spanish cinema is a key element of universal cinema,” and she has cited the directors Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Quarón.
«Spanish cinema is a key element of universal cinema»
«I have known Pedro Almodóvar for 20 years. “We have found a project that unites us both with ‘Manual for cleaning ladies’ and we are going to take advantage of these synergies.” With the director from La Mancha, she has said that she shares the same “film culture” and is delighted to “enter Pedro’s own universe.” Yesterday we started working and today I am in Valencia, they are two great days. For Blanchett now is the “right time” to work with the director of ‘Volver’. «He is an excellent screenwriter. He is an artist because all of his films and his creations have a brutal influence on the script. It is a unique script, which he had never seen before. Almodóvar’s point of view makes us delve into different levels with Lucía Berlin’s stories about emotional and other addictions,” she explained.
«Monopolies are dangerous»
“Cinema was in danger before the pandemic,” he stated in Valencia. Blanchett hoped that after months of confinement people would feel like “gathering in dark spaces when we could go out.” “I have not lost hope that the public has that desire.” “I am aware that in 18 months we have been consuming cinema on platforms,” she added. “Monopolies are not a good idea, they are dangerous,” she clarified. But she has not ignored another reality: “The platforms have given opportunities to projects and artists, which are positive.” “The size of the screen doesn’t matter if the idea is big,” she said. She then warned that we should not “become slaves to a serialized model, nor to a single model.”
The press room was filled with a hundred journalists. The press conference took place under the ceramic mural designed by Santiago Calatrava, known as the Los Toros room. The Australian has shown concern about the future of movie theaters.
“With the Goya International, the Spanish Film Academy shows that it has a very modern future.”
The actress, who now has Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Alley of Lost Souls’ on the bill, considers that the role of academies and festivals, which do “more work apart from awards and carpets, is now more important than ever. The academies advise the industry and help find financing and have an eye on the future. We encounter social and cultural movements, such as #Metoo or #BlackLivesMatters, to which you have to adapt. If an academy does not understand these concepts, it is simply insignificant. And she has joked again: “With the International Goya, the Spanish Film Academy shows that it has a very modern future.”
With two Oscars – for best leading actress for ‘Blue Jasmine’, by Woody Allen, and best supporting actress for ‘The Aviator’, by Martin Scorsese, Blanchett has not taken a position on the controversy surrounding the director of ‘Manhattan’ and ‘Radio days’. On the other hand, she has commented that she loves being asked about the movie ‘Carol’.
The actress from ‘Don’t look up’, by Adam McKay, which can be seen on Netflix, was one of the best kept secrets at the Goya Awards in Valencia. The Australian has considered that the entire industry “benefits from having diversity on both sides of the screen. I worked with my husband at the National Theater in Sydney for several years and am passionate about producing. “Producing goes beyond financing.” «People think that actors are puppets but that is not the case, because we have enormous interest in everything that happens in the film and we have a very active role. Producing is a passion that connects with my main interest which is telling stories », she continued.