JA Bayona’s ‘Society Of The Snow’ sweeps Spain’s Goya Awards

JA Bayona’s Society Of The Snow was the big winner at Spain’s Goya awards on Saturday night (February 10), scooping 12 prizes including best film and director to become the third-most garlanded film in Goya history.  

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall, was named best European film, and Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams won the prizes for best adapted screenplay and feature animation.  

20,000 Species Of Bees, the feature debut of Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, received three Goyas for best new director and original screenplay for Solaguren, and best supporting actress for Ane Gabarain. The 15 nominations for Bees were the highest in Goya history for a debut feature.

In addition to film and director, Bayona’s Society Of The Snow also won Goyas for best new actor, editing, cinematography, original music. VFX, make-up and hairstyling, art direction, production design, costume design, and sound.

Produced by Belén Atienza and Sandra Hermida for Netflix, Society Of The Snow centres on the 1972 air crash in the Andes that pushed its survivors to the limits. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2023 as the closing film. It is now nominated for best foreign-language film at the Baftas and for best international film and make-up and hairstyling at the Oscars.  

Scroll down for the list of winners

Saturday’s triumph for 20,000 Species Of Bees capped a flurry of international recognition that kicked off in Berlin last year with the Silver Bear for best lead performance for young Sofía Otero. Sold by Paris-based Luxbox and produced by Gariza Films and Inicia Films, the film follows an eight-year-old transgender girl exploring her identity one summer in the Basque Country.

Sigourney Weaver received the International Goya for lifetime achievement and received the statuette from Bayona. In her speech, Weaver mentioned her admiration for Spanish masters such as Luis Buñuel and referenced her friend Bill Murray “who always says that my works improve with my Spanish dubbing actress, to whom I want to thank [for] her work for over 30 years”. Weaver has worked with two Spanish filmmakers – Rodrigo Cortés in Red Lights, and Bayona in A Monster Calls.

Many of the speeches on the night condemned violence against women in light of recent accusations against a Spanish director (who was not named on the night) for sexual abuse.

An honorary Goya went to 103-year-old Juan Mariné, a cinema restaurateur and cinematographer with more than 140 credits, the first ones dating back to the 1940s.

The ceremony took place in Valladolid and was hosted by the celebrated Spanish singer-actress Ana Belén, whose credits include Vicente Aranda’s Turkish Passion, alongside Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo (aka Los Javis), the director-producers behind last month’s Sundance premiere of the Moviestar+ series The Messiah (La Mesías) 

 

Goya 2023 film award winners

Best film

• 20,000 Species Of Bees – Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
• Close Your Eyes – Víctor Erice
• Society Of The Snow – JA Bayona
• Jokes & Cigarettes – David Trueba
• Un Amor – Isabel Coixet

Best director

• Víctor Erice – Close Your Eyes
• Elena Martin – Creatura
• JA Bayona – Society Of The Snow
• David Trueba – Jokes & Cigarettes
• Isabel Coixet – Un Amor

Best new director

• Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren – 20,000 Species Of Bees
• Itsaso Arana – The Girls Are Alright
• Alvaro Gago – Matria
• Alejandro Marín – I’m Loving You Madly
• Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastian Vasquez – Upon Entry

Best actor

• Manolo Solo – Close Your Eyes
• Enric Auquer – The Teacher Who Promised The Sea
• David Verdaguer – Jokes & Cigarettes
• Hovik Keuchkerian – Un Amor
• Alberto Ammann – Upon Entry

Best actress

• Patricia Lopez Arnaiz – 20,000 Species Of Bees
• María Vázquez – Matria
• Malena Alterio – Something Is About To Happen
• Carolina Yuste – Jokes & Cigarettes
• Laia Costa – Un Amor

Best supporting actor

• Martxelo Rubio – 20,000 Species Of Bees
• Juan Carlos Vellido – Under Therapy
• Jose Coronado – Close Your Eyes
• Álex Brendemühl – Creatura
• Hugo Silva – Un Amor

Best supporting actress

• Ane Gabarain – 20,000 Species Of Bees
• Itziar Lazkano – 20,000 Species Of Bees
• Ana Torrent – Close Your Eyes
• Clara Segura – Creatura
• Luisa Gavasa – The Teacher Who Promised The Sea

Best new actor

• Brianeitor – Champions
• Julio Hu Chen – Chinas, A Second Generation Story
• Matías Recalt – Society Of The Snow
• La Dani – I’m Loving You Madly
• Omar Banana – I’m Loving You Madly

Best new actress

• Xinyi Ye – Chinas, A Second Generation Story
• Yeju Ji – Chinas, A Second Generation Story
• Clàudia Malagelada – Creatura
• Sara Becker – The Movie Teller
• Janet Novás – The Rye Horn

Best original screenplay

• Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren - 20,000 Species Of Bees
• Michel Gaztambide, Víctor Erice – Close Your Eyes
• Alejandro Marín, Carmen Garrido – I’m Loving You Madly
• Félix Viscarret – Not Such An Easy Life
• Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez – Upon Entry

Best adapted screenplay

• Albert Val – The Teacher Who Promised The Sea
• Bernat Vilaplana, J.A. Bayona, Jaime Marques-Olarreaga, Nicolás Casariego – Society Of The Snow
• Pablo Berger – Robot Dreams
• Albert Espinosa, David Trueba – Jokes & Cigarettes
• Isabel Coixet, Laura Ferrero – Un Amor

Best cinematography

• Gina Ferrer – 20,000 Species Of Bees
• Pedro Luque – Society Of Snow
• Bet Rourich – Un Amor
• Valentín Álvarez – Close Your Eyes
• Diego Trenas - One Night With Adela

Best animation feature

• They Shot The Piano Player – Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
• Sultana’s Dream – Isabel Herguera
• Hanna And The Monsters – Lorena Ares
• Mummies – Juan Jesús García Galocha “Galo”
• Robot Dreams – Pablo Berger

Best documentary

• Caleta Palace – José Antonio Hergueta
• Contigo, Contigo y Sin Mí – Amaya Villar Navascués
• This Excessive Ambition – Cristina Trenas, Rogelio González, Santos Bacana
• Iberia, Naturaleza Infinita – Arturo Menor
• While You’re Still You – Claudia Pinto Emperador

Best Ibero- American film

• Alma Viva (Portugal) – Cristele Alves Meira
• My Eternal Memory (Chile) – Maite Alberdi
• The Fishbowl (Puerto Rico) – Glorimar Marrero Sanchez
• Puan (Argentina) – Benjamín Naishtat, María Alché
• Simón (Venezuela) – Diego Vicentini

Best European Film

• Aftersun – Charlotte Wells
• Anatomy Of A Fall – Justine Triet
• The Eight Mountains – Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch
• Safe Place – Juraj Lerotic
• The Teachers’ Lounge – Ilker Çatak.

• How JA Bayona recreated the Andes in Spain for Oscar nominee ‘Society Of The Snow’