Madrid-born actress Nathalie Poza has been earning acclaim with multiple Goya nominations and wins, including recent recognition in Alicante. She is set to receive a prize during the closing ceremony of the Alicante Film Festival, where a celebrated trio will be honored at the opening gala. Poza will share the stage with film director Alejandro Amenábar and actor Karra Elejalde, highlighting ongoing collaborations and the cinema’s enduring ties in Spain. The festival also marks a moment of reflection on Poza’s career as she continues to garner attention for performances that have resonated across audiences in Spain and beyond.
“Receiving this honor in Alicante brings immense happiness, especially given the festival’s warmth and the dedication of its director, Vicente Seva. It is a genuine celebration of the work and the craft, a moment that connects past achievements with fresh opportunities”, Poza noted, expressing gratitude for the chance to perform alongside Amenábar and Elejalde and to share this experience with festival attendees. The interplay between music, theater, and cinema is a constant thread in her career, and she spoke of the anticipation surrounding this milestone while acknowledging the festival’s role in supporting artists on stage and screen alike.
Poza has carved a space that spans cinema, theater, and television, and she is preparing for upcoming projects that include a new season of a popular series and a feature soon to hit theaters. Her recent work has continued to attract attention from critics and audiences, underscoring her versatility and steady presence in contemporary Spanish cinema.
Poza was chosen to close the festival’s twentieth edition, which ran from June 3 to June 10. The award for distinguished work in translation, recognizing actors and performers with long-standing careers, has a history of honoring prominent names such as Ernesto Alterio, Belén Rueda, Lucia Jiménez, Pilar López de Ayala, Raúl Arévalo, Fernando Tejero, Fele Martínez, Mario Casas, Natalia Verbeke, Hugo Silva, Irene Escolar, Marian Álvarez, Juana Acosta, Verónica Echegui, and Dani Rovira. The opening gala at the Teatro Principal de Alicante presented the award this year, bringing together a wide spectrum of talent from the national scene.
“We are thrilled to recognize Nathalie Poza, who returned to the festival to present Blanca Portillo with an award in previous years, and now stands as the honoree for her extraordinary ability and value as an artist. This year is especially meaningful as the festival celebrates its 20th anniversary, and the gathering of attendees promises a memorable moment”, stated Vicente Seva, director of the Alicante Film Festival. Poza is celebrated not only for her CV but for the impact she has had on audiences through a range of performances that span stage and screen.
acting career
Nathalie Poza was born in Madrid in 1972, to a French mother and a Spanish father. She grew up with a broad cultural upbringing, attending an English-language school and studying piano and ballet as a child. Her education in acting began at the Broken Cristina School, a place that helped anchor her early career as she moved into professional theater and film.
She became a pivotal figure in the theater company Animalario, collaborating with notable artists from the late 1990s, including Alberto San Juan, Guillermo Toledo, and Ernesto Alterio. Her stage work included performances in classical and contemporary pieces, and in 2009 she earned recognition from the Actors Guild for Best Supporting Theater Actress as well as the Villa de Madrid Award for Best Actress. Her later theatrical projects, driven by director Andrés Lima among others, continued to receive nominations and accolades, including Best Actress nominations at the Union de Actores Awards and Fotogramas de Plata in 2020, with projects like Prostitution and clear sky and fires receiving attention under the direction of Jose Maria Pou.
Nathalie has worked closely with some of Spain’s most respected directors, including Alejandro Amenábar. Her filmography includes collaborations with Icíar Bollaín in Inside Rose Wedding, and with Manuel Martín Cuenca in Bad Seasons, which earned critical notice and Academy Award considerations. She has also worked with Mariano Barroso in All Women, earning nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Goyas, among other nominations for her performances in standout films.
Her career in film began with her first Goya for Best Actress in 2016, a milestone celebrated alongside a number of other major Spanish awards such as the Forqué, Feroz, the Union of Actors, and the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. Poza has also appeared in projects from other notable Spanish filmmakers such as Pedro Almodóvar, Gracia Querejeta, Álvaro Fernandez Armero, and Cesc Gay, as well as international collaborations with Woody Allen, most notably in Rifkin’s Festival.
More recently, Poza co-starred with Javier Gutiérrez in Honeymoon and appeared in a Málaga Festival presentation in 2023. Her television work spans a variety of series, including Unit, which earned her Best Actress recognition at the 2023 Actors Guild Awards, and other projects for Movistar+, Amazon Prime Video, and upcoming platform releases. Poza continues to balance screen roles with stage work, bringing a distinctive voice to contemporary Spanish cinema and theater.