“As Bestas”, a rural drama by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, shot with French actors Denis Ménochet and Marina Foïs, won nine trophies on Saturday evening in Seville. The ceremony was also marked by a tribute to Carlos Saura, who died the day before.
The rural drama As Bestas is the big winner of the Goya ceremony, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars, which also dedicated its main actor, Denis Ménochet, on Saturday evening. Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s feature film, shot with French actors Marina Foïs and Denis Ménochet, won a total of nine awards, including Best Spanish Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The memory of the great filmmaker Carlos Saura, who died the day before, Friday February 10, was present in everyone’s mind.
“To be a good director, besides always watching Carlos Saura, you have to surround yourself with the best team possible. And I did it, that’s the only merit I have”, reacted the 40-year-old filmmaker by receiving his award on the night of Saturday to Sunday. The main actor of the film, Denis Ménochet, won the prize for best actor. This is the most important award obtained to date by the French actor, who has worked with filmmakers François Ozon (Peter Van Kant), Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Bastards) and Ridley Scott (Robin Hood). “I had the chance to work with actors that I admire”, assured the actor in Spanish, citing in particular Marina Foïs and the Spaniard Luis Zahera, “best actor in the world” according to him, rewarded with the Goya for best supporting role.
The film by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, a rising star of Spanish cinema, tells the story of a couple who fall in love with a deprived corner of Galicia, in the north-west of Spain, whose installation arouses the threatening hostility of two neighboring brothers. This feature film inspired by a true story has already been seen by 700,000 spectators. He had already caused a sensation in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where he was presented out of competition.
“What we liked was imagining the motivations” characters, to see “how can you hate someone in your neighborhood so much, and (the motivation) of the two strangers, people who are not welcome but who say they are ‘I’m not going to leave here'”, explained the director to AFP in Cannes.
Strong tribute to Carlos Saura
The 37th edition of the Goyas was also an opportunity for the world of cinema to pay tribute to the Spanish director Carlos Saura, who died Friday at his home in the Madrid region, and was awarded an honorary Goya. The filmmaker should have picked up his prize in person. “The death of Carlos Saura has moved the entire profession” because “he was one of the most brilliant representatives of Spanish culture”, underlined the president of the Academy of Cinema Fernando Méndez-Leite during the ceremony in Seville, in the south of Spain. The Goya was given to the filmmaker’s two children and to his wife, actress Eulalia Ramón. The latter read a message that Carlos Saura had prepared, thanking those who accompanied him “in this marvelous work which is the shooting of a film”.
Born on January 4, 1932 in Huesca (Aragon, north), Carlos Saura has shot around fifty films, including cria cuervos in 1975. He received numerous awards during his career, including a Silver Bear in 1966 in Berlin for The hunt. The filmmaker is considered a key figure in the history of Spanish cinema, along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodovar.
Juliette Binoche celebrated with an international award
The Goyas also paid tribute to French actress Juliette Binoche, who received an international award for “his extraordinary trajectory” cinematographic. Upon receiving her award, the actress sang the tune of Porque you goemblematic song of the film cria cuervos by Carlos Saura and enormous hit of the summer of 1976. The Spanish filmmaker “moved me terribly”, she assured, before saying to herself in Spanish “happy” to receive this “wonderful price”.
During her forty-year career, Juliette Binoche has acted in numerous films, including The Lovers on the Bridge, Three colors: blue And The English Patient, for which she received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.