The Carmen Awards (2nd year from the Andalusian Film Academy) and the Gaudí Awards (16th year from the Catalan Film Academy) were held over the weekend and of course I never miss it. They couldn’t be more different. However, as a viewer, neither of them satisfied me.
The best Spanish cinema met in Barcelona. Gaudí’s nominations also include those of all the main films competing for Goya. That’s how strong professionals working in the Catalan audiovisual field are. There were Berger, Erice, Coixet, Bayona, the two Trueba brothers, 20,000 species of bees, and the Creatura films of Elena Martín, who eventually won the night.
But the premiere, which ended at half past one on Sunday morning without much of a sense of humor, focused on a kind of competition to see who could claim the most: more films in Catalan, more money to finance, more sisterhood, more. He screams against ageism, the attack on Palestine, everything. The result was unbearable. It often happens that those who have more want more. The honorary award went to Rosa Vergés, without having a single notable film on her resume.
The Carmen Awards gala in Almería took us back in time. Some presenters, whom we will not mention, managed to make two and a half hours seem endless, with a sense of humor that prevailed forty years ago. There was no demand there. Winner Mamacruz (with Kiti Mánver) did not run in Alicante. Spoken in Catalan, Gaudi’s triumph is the same as Creatura. Alicante also deserves an analysis.