Spain’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced this morning the four titles that will competing for Best Ibero-American Film at the 35th edition of the Goya Awards: The Mole Agent / El agente topo by Maite Alberdi, Forgotten We’ll Be / El olvido que seremos by Fernando Trueba from Colombia, La Llorona by Jayro Bustamante from Guatemala, and I’m No Longer Here / Ya no estoy aquí by Fernando Frías from Mexico. These four films are also competing for the Academy Awards in the Best Feature Film competition.
The documentary film The Mole Agent by Alberdi follows 83-year-old Sergio, who, when sent as an undercover spy to a retirement home to investigate suspected neglect, learns a deeper lesson on human connection. Through the lens of the hidden camera in his decoy glasses, viewers watch as Sergio struggles to balance his assignment while becoming increasingly involved in the lives of several residents. The Mole Agent had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last January and has had a successful international run.
Directed by Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba (Belle Époque), Forgotten We’ll Be is the film adaptation of Héctor Abad Faciolince’s book on the true story of his father, Colombian human rights activist Héctor Abad Gómez. Starring Spanish-actor Javier Cámara (The Young Pope), the film tells the story of a man torn between the love of his family and his political fight set in the violence-riddled Colombia of recent decades.
Bustamante’s La Llorona becomes the first Guatemalan film to nab a Goya nomination. A tale of horror and magical realism that reimagines the iconic Latin American fable, the film follows indignant retired general Enrique, as he finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade his opulent home, the women of the house—his wife, daughter, and granddaughter—weigh their responsibility to shield the erratic, senile Enrique against the devastating truths being publicly revealed and the increasing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes.
Winner of the Best Film Award at the Morelia Film Festival and released by Netflix, Frías’ electrifying second feature I’m No Longer Here follows a street gang from Monterrey named “Los Terkos." Spending their days listening to slowed-down cumbia music, attending dance parties, and showing off their outfits, hairstyles, and gang alliances, the members call themselves Kolombianos for their mix of cholo culture with Colombian music. Ulises, their leader, tries to protect his friends from a quickly evolving drug-political war, but after a misunderstanding with a local cartel he’s forced to migrate to New York City. There he tries to assimilate, but when Ulises learns that his gang and the whole Kolombia culture is under threat, he questions his place in America and longs to return home.
Additionally, Bolivian director of photography Daniel Cajías was nominated for Best Cinematography for Las niñas by Pilar Palomero, and Argentine-born actor Ernesto Salterio was also nominated for Best Leading Actor for his performance in The Sea Beyond / Un mundo normal by Achero Mañas. The winners of this year’s Goya Awards will be announced in a ceremony on Saturday, March 6 in Malaga.
