The 33rd edition of the Goya Awards, which will be held on February 2, 2019 in Seville, will vindicate Spanish cinema “as a strategic sector”, generating “wealth, employment and activity”, as highlighted by the president of the Academy of Cinema, Mariano Barroso.
«Spanish cinema has been the subject of controversy in recent years and our firm commitment since we have entered the Academy is that the value of our filmmakers and our cinema is recognized as a strategic industry, as a sector that is fundamental in the wealth, not only economic, of our country,” he stressed at a press conference.
Barroso has valued the talent of Andalusian cinema, has recalled that Andalusian filmmakers, many of them present at the event, already represent the third largest representation of the Academy and has concluded that “it is fair” that Seville has been chosen as the venue for the next Goya gala, “if only for them.”
He added that the choice of the Andalusian capital was agreed unanimously by the Board of Directors of the Academy, he valued the support received by the Seville City Council and added: «Those of us who make films know that it is very important to go to the places where Those who love us and who love us in Seville already score very high and that they bet so strongly on Spanish cinema flatters us.
The gala will be held in Seville
This will be the second time that the Goya gala is held outside of Madrid, after the one in 2000, held in Barcelona, because, according to Barroso, the Academy “is that of all the filmmakers in the State” and “you have to get out from Madrid”.
Barroso has also highlighted, in response to questions from journalists, that the Academy will maintain its “permanent alliance” with TVE for the production of this gala, which will be presented in its 33rd edition by Andreu Buenafuente, who already served as master of ceremonies in those of the 2010 and 2011, and by actress Silvia Abril, both couples in real life.
He appreciated that Seville offers the appropriate infrastructure to host this ceremony – “the most important red carpet in Spain”, he stressed – in which no less than 2,500 people participate and which requires advanced technological facilities.
The mayor of Seville, Juan Espadas, has assured the representatives of the Academy that they will not regret having chosen the Andalusian capital, a city that, he has remarked, “is going to turn” to the Goya because “we Sevillians know be grateful.”
He recalled the half dozen national and international performing arts events that Seville will host this year and in 2019, thanks to the municipal commitment to culture and its infrastructure, and has advocated that they constitute “a golden opportunity” for the projection international of the Andalusian capital.