It was a big night for Latin America at the 38th annual edition of the Goya Awards, Spain's main national movie accolades, with five winners hailing from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela at the ceremony held in the city of Valladolid.
The standout of the evening was the survival thriller Society of the Snow / La sociedad de la nieve by Juan Antonio Bayona, which triumphed in 12 of the 13 categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film also secured awards for three South American nationals: Argentine Matías Recalt for Best Breakthrough Actor for his role as Roberto Canessa, and Julio Suárez for Best Costume Design, along with Uruguayan DP Pedro Luque for Best Cinematography.
Society of the Snow, which has also received Oscar nominations for Best International Feature Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, recounts the true story of a group of Uruguayan survivors who, after a plane crash in the remote heart of the Andes, band together and become each other's best hope as they navigate their way back home.
The Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film, presented by Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, was bestowed upon the Chilean documentary The Eternal Memory / La memoria infinita by Maite Alberdi. The film, also in contention for an Oscar in the Best Documentary category, follows Augusto and Paulina, who have been together and in love for 25 years. Eight years ago, their lives were forever changed by Augusto’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As one of Chile’s most prominent cultural commentators and television presenters, Augusto is no stranger to building an archive of memory.
Now, he turns that work to his own life, attempting to cling to his identity with the support of his beloved Paulina, whose own prominence as a famous actress and Chilean Minister of Culture predates her ceaselessly inventive manner of engaging with her husband. Day by day, the couple face this challenge head-on, relying on the tender affection and sense of humor shared between them that remarkably remains fully intact.
Argentine-born Malena Alterio was the winner of Best Leading Actress for her performance as Lucía in director Antonio Méndez Esparza's thriller Something Is About to Happen / Que nadie duerma. And Venezuelan director Claudia Pinto Emperador clinched the Best Documentary Award for Mientras seas tú, el aquí y ahora de Carme Elias, which chronicles the story of veteran actress Carme Elias, diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years ago, and her final collaboration with director Pinto.
