Political thriller 'The Realm' nabbed seven awards, while 'Champions' took home the prize for best film at the gala celebrated in Seville, Spain.

Political thriller The Realm was the big winner at Saturday night’s 33rd annual Goya Awards, Spain’s top honors, taking home seven awards including for best director, actor, supporting actor, original script, sound, editing and music.

But it was the feel-good comedy Champions that earned the top prize for best film at the gala celebrated in Seville. Spain’s runaway box-office hit of the last year and its selection to represent the country in the foreign-language Oscar category, Champions tells the story of a professional basketball coach sentenced to train a team of players with intellectual disabilities.

Champions director Javier Fesser hired non-professional actors with real disabilities to star in the film. One of the stars, Jesus Vidal, recevied the night’s prize for best new actor. "Three words come to my mind: inclusion, diversity and visibility," Vidal said in an emotional acceptance speech. Champions won a third honor, best original song, for "Este es el momento."

The Realm stars Antonio de la Torre in the story of a corrupt politician facing exposure for his illegal dealings. It was directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who next heads to the Oscars with his nominated live-action short film Mother.

In an unusual twist, de la Torre was nominated in both the best actor and supporting actor categories. For the best actor nod, he beat out Everybody Knows' Javier Bardem, Your Son's Jose Coronado and Champions' Javier Gutierrez.

Carmen & Lola, a Madrid-set love story between two gypsy women that premiered at the Cannes Quinzaine, won two top awards and early on seemed one of the night’s darlings. Arantxa Echevarria was named best new director, a category that made headlines for having three women nominees this year.

Carmen & Lola co-star Carolina Yuste, who was tapped as best supporting actress, thanked the film’s team, which was composed of 70 percent women. "When they give us a voice, things like Carmen & Lola are the result and they make this world a healthier place," she said

It was just one of many feminist notes struck at the awards ceremony. Eva Llorach, who took home a best new actress Goya for Quien Te Cantara, asked all the nominated women in the audience to stand up to see how "few" they were. "I want to share this with you, and I want to ask screenwriters, producers, distributors … for more stories with female protagonists," she said.

Iranian director Asgar Farhadi’s Everybody Knows went home empty-handed despite eight nominations in most of the top categories, including best actress for Penelope Cruz, a prize won by veteran Susi Sanchez for 2018 Berlin Panorama premiere Sunday’s Illness.

In what may have been the least surprising wins of the night, Roma took home the Academy’s best Ibero-American film prize and Cold War was named best European film.

The winners for feature and short documentary brought more politics to the proceedings. Documentary feature winner Almudena Carracedo, co-director of the Oscar short-listed The Silence of Others, dedicated his Goya to the "thousands of victims and survivors of the Franco dictatorship," and to those who "fight every day for their right to justice and truth."

The short documentary film Gaza won in its category despite having been in the news on the eve of the Goya Awards for a canceled screening in Madrid hosted by the pro-Palestine group BDS.

Spanish Film Academy president Mariano Barroso, who earlier in the week told Spanish news agency Efe that the Academy was considering including TV series in future awards ceremonies, gave a speech urging film professionals not to see the "small screens as enemies. … Ours is an alliance of winners."

Other technical Goya Awards were split between the 1920s police thriller Gun City, Terry Gilliam’s long-awaited Spanish co-production The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and local box office hit Superlopez.

The Goya of Honor for horror director Narciso "Chicho" Ibañez Serrador was presented by eight of Spain’s most renowned genre directors, including JA Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Alejandro Amenabar (The Others) and Nacho Vigalondo (Colossal).

Other touches of glamour in Seville included a performance by pop flamenco artist Rosalia and the presentation of the best film prize by Pedro Almodovar and the stars of his Goya-earning 1988 pic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Rosalia has a role alongside Cruz and Antonio Banderas in Almodovar’s upcoming film Pain & Glory.

A full list of the 2019 Goya winners follows.

Film

Champions

Director

Rodrigo Sorogoyen for The Realm

New director

Arantxa Echevarria for Carmen & Lola

Lead actor

Antonio de la Torre for The Realm

Lead actress

Susi Sanchez for Sunday’s Illness

Supporting actor

Luis Zahera for The Realm

Supporting actress

Carolina Yuste for Carmen & Lola

New actor

Jesus Vidal for Champions

New actress

Eva Llorach for Quien Te Cantara

Original script

Isabel Peña and Rodrigo Sorogoyen for The Realm

Adapted script

Alvaro Brechner for The 12-Year Night

Animated film

Another Day of Life by Damian Nenow and Raul de la Fuente

Documentary

The Silence of Others by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar

European film

Cold War by Pawel Pawlikowski

Iberoamerican film

Roma by Alfonso Cuaron

Original music

Olivier Arson for The Realm

Original song

"Este es el momento" from Champions by Coque Malla

Production design

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Director of photography

Josu Inchaustegui for Gun City

Editing

Alberto del Campo for The Realm

Sound

Roberto Fernandez and Albert Raposo for The Realm

Art direction

Juan Pedro de Gaspar for Gun City

Special effects

Lluis Rivera and Laura Pedro for Superlopez

Wardrobe design

Clara Bilbao for Gun City

Makeup and hair

Sylvie Imbert, Amparo Sanchez and Pablo Perona for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Short documentary

Gaza by Carlos Bover Martinez and Julio Perez del Campo

Short film

Cerdita by Carlota Pereda

Short animated film

Cazatalentos by Jose Herrera</s>SEVILLE, Feb 3 — Mexican film Roma, which is tipped for Oscars glory, was yesterday named best Latin American picture at the Goyas, the main Spanish film awards held in Seville.

Shot in black and white by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, Roma has already won the Golden Lion at Venice, two Golden Globes and four awards at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Set in Mexico City in the 1970s, it has 10 nominations for the 91st Academy Awards to be held in Hollywood on February 24.

The 33rd Goya Awards' best picture went to Campeones (Champions), by director Javier Fesser, Spain's most successful film last year.

Rodrigo Sorogoyen took the best director award for his political thriller El Reino (The Realm) and the best actor gong went to Antonio de la Torre in the same film, while Susi Sanchez took the best actress award for her role in La enfermedad del domingo (Sunday's Illness). — AFP</s>MADRID — The film "Campeones" ("Champions"), a comedy about a basketball team featuring actors with mental disabilities, won best picture at the Spanish Film Academy's Goya Awards.

Directed by Javier Fesser, "Campeones" took the top prize at the gala that ended early Sunday morning in Seville, while the dark thriller "El reino" ("The Kingdom") was the night's big winner, sweeping up seven awards.

The Goya for best new actor went to Jesus Vidal, who has a visual disability, for his role in "Campeones."

"You have recognized an actor with a disability. You don't know what you have done. Three words come to mind: inclusion, fun and visibility," Vidal told the audience.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez congratulated the winners, above all Vidal, on social media. Sanchez said Vidal's acceptance speech was "unforgettable."

"El reino," a dive into the murky realm of corruption in Spain, earned Rodrigo Sorogoyen the best director award. It also won best screenplay and best actor for Antonio de la Torre.

Sorogoyen will compete at this year's Oscar Awards in the category of best short film with "Madre" ("Mother").

Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma" won the best Spanish-language film made from outside Spain, while Pawel Pawlikowski's "Cold War" won for best European film.

The annual Goya Awards are Spain's version of the Oscars, honoring excellence in filmmaking for full-length features, shorts, animated films and documentaries. Members of the Spanish Film Academy are eligible to vote.</s>The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

MADRID (AP) — The film “Campeones” (“Champions”), a comedy about a basketball team featuring actors with mental disabilities, won best picture at the Spanish Film Academy’s Goya Awards.

Directed by Javier Fesser, “Campeones” took the top prize at the gala that ended early Sunday morning in Seville, while the dark thriller “El reino” (“The Kingdom”) was the night’s big winner, sweeping up seven awards.

The Goya for best new actor went to Jesus Vidal, who has a visual disability, for his role in “Campeones.”

“You have recognized an actor with a disability. You don’t know what you have done. Three words come to mind: inclusion, fun and visibility,” Vidal told the audience.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez congratulated the winners, above all Vidal, on social media. Sanchez said Vidal’s acceptance speech was “unforgettable.”

“El reino,” a dive into the murky realm of corruption in Spain, earned Rodrigo Sorogoyen the best director award. It also won best screenplay and best actor for Antonio de la Torre.

Sorogoyen will compete at this year’s Oscar Awards in the category of best short film with “Madre” (“Mother”).

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” won the best Spanish-language film made from outside Spain, while Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” won for best European film.

The annual Goya Awards are Spain’s version of the Oscars, honoring excellence in filmmaking for full-length features, shorts, animated films and documentaries. Members of the Spanish Film Academy are eligible to vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.</s>MADRID — Javier Fesser’s “Champions” won best picture at the 33rd Spanish Academy Goya Awards, having seemed to have been locked out of major awards.

Spain’s Oscar entry, a blockbuster hit on home turf for UPI Spain, earning €18.5 million ($21.1 million) and sold near worldwide, the comedy turns on an off-the-rails Spanish coach sentenced to train a basketball team of special-needs players.

Before director Javier Fesser climbed the stage on Saturday night to take best picture, the film had won just two of 10 nominations, for breakthrough actor (Jesús Vidal) and song (Coque Malla’s “Este es el momento”).

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Realm,” a full-on kinetic, political thriller was the other big winner of Saturday night, sweeping most big Spanish Academy Goya Awards including best picture, actor (Antonio de la Torre), original screenplay (Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyen), and original score (Olivier Arson), among a total seven Goyas .

Beating out not just Penélope Cruz (“Everybody Knows”) but Najwa Nimri (“Quien te cantara”) and Lola Dueñas (“Journey to a Mother’s Room”), Susi Sánchez won best actress for “Sunday’s Ills,” directed by Ramón Salazar and chosen as a Variety’s Critic’s Pick.

A dazzling animation/live-action mix, capturing war correspondent Ryszard Kapuściński’s life-haunting experience of 1975’s Angola Civil War, “Another Day of Life” capped a triumphant year, after winning best animation film at the European Film Awards, by taking the Spanish Academy Award for best animated feature.

Best documentary Goya went to Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar’s heartrending “The Silence of Others,” backed by the Almodóvar brothers, chronicling a campaign to end Spain’s Pact of Forgetting of crimes under Franco and aged Spaniards’ attempts to just give loved ones, executed in the Civil War, a decent burial.

Often a platform for revindication – opposition to Spain’s involvement in the 2003 Iraqi War, support for gender equality or demands for funding for the film industry itself – the 33rd Goya Awards were the least issue-centered of recent years in terms of speeches.

Where last year’s ceremony preached but failed to deliver on progressive ideals, this year’s demonstrated them thoroughly. Three of the four nominees for Breakout Director were women, ethnically diverse music was performed throughout the night, and in one of the evening’s most touching moments, special needs actor and “Champions” star Jesús Vidal won the award for Breakout Actor and gave a heartwarming speech about the importance of inclusion in cinema.

This year’s hosts, husband and wife team Silvia Abril and Andreu Buenafuente, were an undeniable hit, charming the audience every time they took the stage.

A tranquil Saturday night also reflects the paradoxical situation of the Spanish film industry. After incentives were slashed during Spain’s double-backed recession, Spain’s film industry, especially its arthouse sector, remains underfunded when it comes to state incentives, compared to Europe’s big five countries,

But movies are being made in a country where it is increasingly difficult to crew up with first-class technicians given their employment on the exploding number of drama series being made for pay TV and OTT platforms, some of which are among the most-watched series in the world (think “La Casa de Papel,” “Elite”).

In a year with only one Spanish blockbuster, “Champions,” Spanish movies still notched up a 17.5% share.

This year’s Spanish Academy Honorary Goya was presented to Narciso “Chicho” Ibáñez Serrador, a pioneer of Spanish fantastic cinema, who made two milestones in its early cannon, 1970’s “La Residencia” (“The House That Screamed”) and 1976’s “¿Quién puede matar a un niño? (“Who Can Kill a Child”) – which anticipated Spain’s surge in upscale genre auteur.

The award was presented by Alejandro Amenábar (“The Others”), J.A. Bayona (“The Oprhanage”), Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza (“[REC]”), Rodrigo Cortés (“Buried”), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”) and Nacho Vigalondo (“Colossal”) – one indication of the ample influence Ibañez Serrador has had on one of Europe’s most-talented smart genre generations.

And the winners are:</s>'Champions' took home the top prize for best film at the gala celebrated in Seville

Political thriller 'The Realm' nabbed 7 awards, while 'Champions' took home the award for best film at the gala celebrated in Seville.

Political thriller The Realm was the big winner at Saturday night’s 33rd annual Goya Awards, Spain’s top honors, with 7 awards including best director, actor, supporting actor, original script, sound, editing and music.

But it was feel-good comedy Champions that took home the top prize for best film at the gala celebrated in Seville. Spain’s runaway box-office hit of the last year and its selection to represent the country in the foreign-language Oscar category, Champions tells the story of a professional basketball coach sentenced to train a team of players with intellectual disabilities.

Champions director Javier Fesser hired non-professional actors with real disabilities to star in the film. One of the stars, Jesus Vidal, won the night’s prize for best new actor. "Three words come to my mind: inclusion, diversity and visibility," Vidal said in an emotional acceptance speech. The film won a third of its 11 nominations for best original song.

The Realm stars Antonio de la Torre in the story of a corrupt politician facing exposure for his illegal dealings. It was directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who next faces the Oscars with his nominated live-action short film Mother.

In an unusual twist, De la Torre was nominated in both the best actor and best supporting actor categories. For the best actor nom he beat out Javier Bardem in Everybody Knows, Jose Coronado for Your Son and Javier Gutierrez for Champions.

Carmen & Lola, a Madrid-set love story between two gypsy women that premiered at the Cannes Quinzaine, won two top awards and early on seemed one of the night’s darlings. Arantxa Echevarria took home best new director, a category that made headlines for having three women nominated this year.

Carmen & Lola co-star Carolina Yuste, who won best supporting actress, thanked the film’s team which is conspired of 70 percent of women: "When they give us a voice, things like Carmen & Lola are the result and they make this world a healthier place."

It was just one of many feminist notes struck at the awards ceremony. Eva Llorach, who took home a best new actress Goya for Quien Te Cantara, asked all the nominated women in the audience to stand up to see how "few" they were. "I want to share this with you, and I want to ask screenwriters, producers, distributors… for more stories with female protagonists."

Iranian director Asgar Farhadi’s Everybody Knows went home empty-handed despite eight nominations in most of the top categories, including best actress for Penelope Cruz, a prize won by veteran Susi Sanchez for 2018 Berlin Panorama premiere Sunday’s Illness.

In what may have been the least surprising wins of the night, Roma took home the Academy’s Best Ibero-American Film prize and Cold War won Best European Film.

The winners for the feature and short documentary brought more politics to the proceedings. Documentary feature winner Almudena Carracedo, co-director of Oscar short-listed The Silence of Others, dedicated the Goya to the "thousands of victims and survivors of the Franco dictatorship," and to those who "fight every day for their right to justice and truth."

The short documentary film Gaza won in its category despite having been, in the news on the eve of the Goya Awards for a canceled screening in Madrid hosted by the pro-Palestine group BDS, won in its category.

Spanish Film Academy President Mariano Barroso, who earlier in the week told Spanish news agency Efe that the Academy was considering including TV series in future awards ceremonies, gave a speech urging film professionals not to see the "small screens as enemies… Ours is an alliance of winners."

Other technical Goya Awards were split between the 1920s police thriller Gun City, Terry Gilliam’s long-awaited The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a Spanish co-production, and local box office hit Superlopez.

The Goya of Honor for horror director Narciso "Chicho" Ibañez Serrador was presented by eight of Spain’s most renowned genre directors, including JA Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Alejandro Amenabar (The Others) and Nacho Vigalondo (Colossal).

Other touches of glamour in Seville were a performance by pop flamenco artist Rosalia and the presentation of the best film prize by Pedro Almodovar and the stars of his best Goya film from 1989, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Rosalia has a role alongside Cruz and Antonio Banderas in Almodovar’s upcoming film Pain & Glory.

A full list of the 2019 Goya winners follows.

Best direction 

 Rodrigo Sorogoyen for The Realm

Original script

 Isabel Peña and Rodrigo Sorogoyen for The Realm

Best Animated film

 Another Day of Life by Damian Nenow and Raul de la Fuente

Documentary

 The Silence of Others by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar

Sound

 Roberto Fernandez and Albert Raposo for The Realm

Make-up and hair

 Sylvie Imbert, Amparo Sanchez and Pablo Perona for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote</s>MADRID — The film “Campeones” (“Champions”), a comedy about a basketball team featuring actors with mental disabilities, has won best picture at the Spanish Film Academy’s Goya Awards.

Directed by Javier Fesser, “Campeones” took the top prize at the gala that ended early Sunday morning, while the dark thriller “El reino” (“The Kingdom”) was the night’s big winner, sweeping up seven awards.

The Goya for best new actor went to Jesus Vidal, who has a visual disability, for his role in “Campeones.”

Vidal told the audience “you have recognized an actor with a disability. You don’t know what you have done. Three words come to mind: inclusion, fun and visibility.”

“El reino,” a dive into the murky realm of corruption in Spain, earned Rodrigo Sorogoyen the best director award.</s>Champions, a basketball-themed comedy, and The Realm, a political thriller, emerged as the top winners in Spain’s 33rd annual Goya Awards.

Roma, which was also taking the top prize across the Atlantic at Saturday night’s DGA Awards, won a Goya for Best Iboamerican Film.

The Realm took home seven trophies, for directing, acting, supporting acting, screenwriting, sound, editing and music. Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen will also be at this month’s Oscars, as a nominee for Best Live-Action Short Film for Mother.

Champions, which was Spain’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language category at the Oscars, won for Best Film. It depicts the efforts of a pro basketball coach who is sentenced to coach a team of intellectually challenged players. Director Javier Fesser cast non-professional actors with actual disabilities to play many of the players.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Direction

 Rodrigo Sorogoyen for The Realm

Original Script

 Isabel Peña and Rodrigo Sorogoyen for The Realm

Best Animated film

Another Day of Life by Damian Nenow and Raul de la Fuente

Documentary

The Silence of Others by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar

Sound

 Roberto Fernandez and Albert Raposo for The Realm

Make-up and Hair

 Sylvie Imbert, Amparo Sanchez and Pablo Perona for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote</s>Spanish actors Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz have been nominated for the best lead role awards at Spain's main annual national movie awards.

For the 33rd edition of the Goya Awards, set to take place on Saturday in the southern city of Seville, two of Spain's most well-known actors are both nominated for their roles in the movie "Everyone Knows" by Oscar-winning director and screenwriter Asghar Farhadi.</s>Rodrigo Sorogoyen took the best director award for his political thriller 'El Reino' (The Realm) and the best actor gong went to Antonio de la Torre in the same film, while Susi Sanchez took the best actress award for her role in 'La enfermedad del domingo' (Sunday's Illness).
The 33rd edition of Goya Awards are held in Seville, Spain. Champions, portrayed by disabled people, gets the Goya Award for Best Film.