Actress Maribel Verdu has won Spain’s prestigious National Cinema Award, which is selected by the Ministry of Culture and comes with prize money of $42,000 (€30,000).

Verdu has been honoured with the award for work over the past year and half, including roles in Francis Ford Coppola’s drama Tetro, and Jose Luis Cuerda’s Spanish Second World War film The Blind Sunflowers, which picked up 15 nominations at this year’s Goyas. She is best known for her role in Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too).

The jury was led by Ignasi Guardans, director general of the ICAA (Spain’s film institute), and also included Alex De La Iglesia, President of Spanish Film Academy,  and actor Javier Bardem, who picked up the award last year.

The prize is designed to reward the most outstanding contribution to Spanish cinema over the past year.

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