There will be no delivery of ‘big heads’, nor the usual red carpet. None of the 178 nominees will appear either. However, there will be actors and directors who will reveal the names of the winners. This is how they have reinvented themselves 35 Goya Awards to overcome the problems derived from the third wave of coronavirus that hits Spain. The gala is still on: it will be held on 6th of Marchin it Soho Caixabank Theater in Malagaand the organization is already working so that the candidates for the statuettes participate electronically. “Through the video calling systems that we have all become accustomed to,” he explains. Antonio Banderas, “the lucky ones will be able to thank and celebrate the award from their homes.” The actor directs, writes and hosts the delivery with the journalist Maria Casado. A ceremony that, according to her partner, “will be elegant, sober and, although we don’t intend it, exciting.”
Exciting because the deathly silence of an empty theater will prevail over the laughter, screams and applause of other years, but also because, as Banderas remembers, “many colleagues have left us before their time”. All of this, in some way, will be on the stage “without the need to look for it,” a venture about a ceremony that will flee from grandiloquence and fanfare. “We start from simplicity,” says Banderas. We wanted to have a very soft and restrained gala. It has a certain austerity, but if you want to be elegant you have to have moderation. On the other hand, as there is no audience in the audience, the couple will speak directly to the cameras and, therefore, the viewer. With a duration of “a little more than two hours”, the delivery will serve as a tribute and recognition not only to Spanish cinema, but also to the public, who during this difficult season “has turned their houses into stalls”apostille Married.
Mariano Barroso, president of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, was in charge, minutes before, of announcing the important decision that the board of directors had made – initially the nominees were going to be present – during his speech at the roundtable. press to present the gala. The most repeated phrase was ‘today’ because the scenario and measures change almost every day. It does not seem, however, that suspending the gala has been on the table. “We believe that it is necessary to do everything possible to celebrate the Goya and recognize the efforts of all our colleagues,” Barroso began. “The awards ceremony is two things,” he explained, “a meeting party between members of the industry and a television program. We cannot do the first, but the second, “a program for our audience, which is who we work for, yes, so the show will not be affected.”. They will be “exceptionally responsible and careful” awards. All those present will take PCR tests, there will be a safety distance and masks. The idea is to “protect health above all else” and, Banderas added, “send a message to all groups of other professions that continue to fight.”
Above, Banderas and Casado, along with Mariano Barroso. Below, María Casado and Antonio Banderas, without the mask.
Virginia Carrasco
Despite everything, there are things that are still unclear. Will there be a red carpet? “It is possible that the award givers pose for the press, without an audience,” explains the actor from Malaga. Will the awards ceremony advance its schedule due to the curfew? “It’s another ball in the air,” Barroso responds, laughing. The hypothesis from which we start is that those who are in the theater are working.
Banderas, who maintains that “excitement, courage and bravery” remain intact despite successive setbacks, hopes that the gala will be “the starting signal for the recovery of humanity, because we are all exhausted. We need to give each other kisses and hugs, see each other’s faces, know if we are laughing or not. “Hopefully it will be the beginning of the end of this tunnel.” The performer assures that he will not dance or sing, but he has let it be known that one of his first interventions will be, very much in line with his participation in ‘Escena en blanco y negro’, the musical program that he has directed for Amazon Prime Video, with a monologue in which you will remember that not everything related to the coronavirus has to be negative.
International greetings and performances
The actor says that he has asked for help from international colleagues to give “a message of support” to our cinematography, so during the gala French, Italian, Argentine and, of course, American actors and filmmakers will leave their mark in the form of “virtual hug”. Besides, the Soho Symphony Orchestra It will liven up the entire gala, something that Banderas wanted to recover from the first editions. “It gives it a very special atmosphere,” he says. It will not be the only musical note, since the delivery will have several performances, among them those of Aitana and Vanesa Martín. Casado is convinced that the two “are going to surprise” due to the themes chosen and their change of register. The ceremony will also begin the Berlanga year, in such a way that it will have a space dedicated to the brilliant director.
Banderas wanted to have a few words for those nominated, especially those who are nominated for the first time. «Many things will be lost, but the gala will be remembered because it will connect with the houses. “Those who win will be those who won the year of covid”he said while remembering those workers in the industry who are not part of the “peak of the iceberg” such as transporters, catering managers, drivers… “They are all essential and we want to highlight it in a way very special, from the first moment of the gala,” he said.
And the series?
During the press conference, an issue that is often raised at the Film Academy was once again put on the table: should any audiovisual television work be awarded? “We have had many discussions about it,” Barroso responded. “The structure needed to integrate all television production would require equipment, facilities and capacity that we do not have,” he says. “It is not doubling it, it is multiplying the capacity of the academy by four or five,” he explained. Next to her, María Casado, president of the Television Academy, has revealed that they are working to achieve this recognition. “I can’t say anything else now because today is movie day,” she concluded.