‘Pain and Glory,’ ‘While at War,’ ‘Endless Trench’ Lead Goya Nominations

By Jamie Lang

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory” will go head-to-head with two other big Spanish films – Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War” and “The Endless Trench,” from Aitor Aguirre, Jon Garaño and José Mari Goenaga –  at Spain’s 34th Goya Academy Awards, to be held Jan. 25 in Malaga.

“Pain and Glory” garnered 16 nominations,” “While at War” 17 and “The Endless Trench” 15.

Though most pundits would put “Pain and Glory” as the frontrunner, the outcome is difficult to predict. World-premiering in Spain before competing in Cannes, where Antonio Banderas won the best actor prize, “Pain and Glory” was reckoned by Spanish critics to be Almodóvar’s best film in a decade.

But ever since the screenplay for Luis Buñuel’s “Viridiana,” which went on to win the Palme d’Or, was written off in Spain as nonsense, the Spanish industry has steadfastly refused to kowtow to internationally acclaimed directors or indeed talent.

Screening at Ventana Sur, “While at War” was a box office hit and is likely to sweep many technical awards. “The Endless Trench” was the runaway favorite of San Sebastián contenders (which also included “While at War”) among Spanish critics, and was directed by a rising trio regarded as the flag-bearers of an ambitious international Basque cinema.

Of the newcomers, Belén Funes stands out as a favorite after her debut feature, “A Thief’s Daughter,” won prizes at San Sebastián and Valladolid’s Seminci, Spain’s premier event dedicated to arthouse cinema. She’ll face stiff opposition from Toronto Midnight Madness winner Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, whose thriller “The Platform” scored four prizes at Sitges, in Spain, one of Europe’s leading events for genre films and has proved one of the best selling Spanish movies of the year, selling to Netflix after a Toronto Midnight Madness screening before the festival was out.

Salvador Simó’s “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles” has impressed on the animated fest circuit and stands out as the most ambitious picture in the New Directors pool, while Aritz Moreno’s “The Advantages of Traveling by Train” notched three other nominations and has enjoyed critical and box office success in Spain.

Netflix’s first-ever animated feature “Klaus,” produced out of Madrid by Sergio Pablos Animation, and “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles” face off in a battle of big-studio commercial appeal versus independent arthouse animation. “Buñuel” has the festival and awards CV, world premiering and winning Los Angeles’ Animation is Film in October last year, while “Klaus” was given a very limited theatrical release before heading straight to streaming, leaving little opportunity to pick up such plaudits.

Best Actor and Actress fields are both full of familiar faces, including Spain’s two most recognizable in Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, both nominated for their work in “Pain and Glory.”

Banderas stands out as the favorite in his category. He is up against last year’s winner, Antonio de la Torre (“The Endless Trench”), two-time supporting actor winner Karra Elejalde (“While at War”) and three-time winner Luis Tosar (“Eye for an Eye”).

Best Actress is one of this edition’s most exciting categories to watch. Cruz is a Goya mainstay and the most recognizable of the lot, but Greta Fernández (“A Thief’s Daughter”) has been one of the most talked-about actors in Spain this year and won Best Actress at San Sebastián. Belén Cuesta (“The Endless Trench”) is better-known for previous comedic roles but has wowed Spanish critics with this dramatic turn. Marta Nieto’s work as Elena in the 2017 short that preceded “Mother” has already earned her numerous awards. In her return to the role – learning French for it in the intervening two years – she has already won Best Actress prizes at Venice and Seville.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2019 34th SPANISH ACACDEMY AWARDS

BEST FILM

“Pain and Glory” (Pedro Almodóvar)

“Out in the Open” (Benito Zambrano)

“The Endless Trench” (Aitor Arregui, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga)

“Fire Will Come” (Oliver Laxe)

“While at War” (Alejandro Amenábar)

DIRECTOR

Pedro Almodóvar (“Pain and Glory”)

Aitor Arregui, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga (“The Endless Trench”)

Oliver Laxe (“Fire Will Come”)

Alejandro Amenábar (“While at War”)

NEW DIRECTOR

Salvador Simó (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles”)

Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (“The Platform”)

Belén Funes (“A Thief’s Daughter”)

Aritz Moreno (“Advantages of Traveling by Train”)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Pedro Almodóvar (“Pain and Glory”)

David Desola and Pedro Rivero (“The Platform”)

Jose Mari Goenaga and Luiso Berdejo (“The Endless Trench”)

Alejandro Amenábar and Alejandro Hernández (“While at War”)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Eligio Montero and Salvador Simó (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles”)

Benito Zambrano, Daniel Remón and Pablo Remón (“Out in the Open”)

Isabel Peña and Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“Mother”)

Javier Gullón (“Advantages of Traveling by Train”)

ACTRESS

Penélope Cruz (“Pain and Glory”)

Greta Fernández (“A Thief’s Daughter”)

Belén Cuesta (“The Endless Trench”)

Marta Nieto (“Mother”)

ACTOR

Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”)

Antonio de la Torre (“The Endless Trench”)

Karra Elejalde (“While at War”)

Luis Tosar (“Eye for an Eye”)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mona Martínez (“Adiós”)

Natalia de Molina (“Adiós”)

Julieta Serrano (“Pain and Glory”)

Nathalie Poza (“While at War”)

SUPORTING ACTOR

Asier Etxeandia and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory”)

Luis Callejo (“Out in the Open”)

Eduard Fernández (“While at War”)

NEW ACTRESS

Pilar Gómez (“Adiós”)

Carmen Arrufat (“The Innocence”)

Benedicta Sánchez (“Fire Will Come”)

Ainhoa Santamaría (“While at War”)

NEW ACTOR

Nacho Sánchez (“Seventeen”)

Vicente Vergara (“The Endless Trench”)

Santi Prego (“While at War”)

Enric Auquer (“Eye for an Eye”)

ANIMATED FEATURE

“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles” (Salvador Simó)

“Elcano & Magallanes: First Trip Around the World” (Ángel Alonso)

“Klaus” (Sergio Pablos)

DOCUMENTARY

“Ara Malikian: una vida entre las cuerdas” (Nata Moreno)

“Aute retrato” (Gaizka Urresti)

“El cuadro e Historias de nuestro cine” (Ana Pérez-Lorente, Antonio Resines)

EUROPEAN FILM

“Border” (Ali Abbasi, Sweden, Denmark)

“Les Misérables,” (Ladj Ly, France)

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Céline Sciamma, France)

“Yesterday” (Danny Boyle, U.K.)

IBEROAMERICAN FILM

“Araña” (Andrés Wood, Chile)

“The Awakening of the Ants” (Antonella Sudasassi, Costa Rica)

“Heroic Losers” (Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina)

“Monos” (Alejandro Landes, Colombia)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

José Luis Alcaine (“Pain and Glory”)

Javi Agirre Erauso (“The Endless Trench”)

Mauro Herce (“Fire Will Come”)

Álex Catalán (“While at War”)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Toni Novella (“Pain and Glory”)

Manolo Limón (“Out in the Open”)

Ander Sistiaga (“The Endless Trench”)

Carla Pérez de Albéniz (“While at War”)

ORIGINAL MUSIC

Arturo Cardelús (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles”)

Alberto Iglesias (“Pain and Glory”)

Pascal Gaigne (“The Endless Trench”)

Alejandro Amenábar (“While at War”)

ORIGINAL SONG

Intemperie by Javier Ruibal (“Out in the Open”)

Invisible by Caroline Pennell,Jussi Ilmari Karvinen (Jussifer),Justin Tranter (“Klaus”)

Allí en la arena by Toni M. Mir (“The Innocence”)

Nana de las dos lunas by Sergio de la Puente (“La noche de las dos lunas”)

EDITING

Teresa Font (“Pain and Glory”)

Laurent Dufreche, Raúl López (“The Endless Trench”)

Carolina Martínez Urbina (“While at War”)

Alberto del Campo (“Mother”)

SOUND

Sergio Bürmann, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Marc Orts (“Pain and Glory”)

Iñaki Díez, Alazne Ameztoy, Xanti Salvador, Nacho Royo-Villanova )“The Endless Trench”)

Aitor Berenguer, Gabriel Gutiérrez (“While at War”)

David Machado, Gabriel Gutiérrez, Yasmina Praderas (“Eye for an Eye”)

ART DIRECTION

Antxón Gómez (“Pain and Glory”)

Pepe Domínguez (“The Endless Trench”)

Juan Pedro de Gaspar (“While at War”)

Mikel Serrano (“Advantages of Traveling by Train”)

COSTUME DESIGN

Paola Torres (“Pain and Glory”)

Lourdes Fuentes, Saioa Lara (“The Endless Trench”)

Sonia Grande (“While at War”)

Alberto Valcárcel (“Paradise Hills”)

HAIR AND MAKEUP

Ana Lozano, Sergio Pérez Berbel, Montse Ribé (“Pain and Glory”)

Yolanda Piña, Félix Terrero, Nacho Díaz (“The Endless Trench”)

Ana López-Puigcerver, Belén López-Puigcerver, Nacho Díaz (“While at War”)

Karmele Soler, Olga Cruz (“Advantages of Traveling by Train”)

SPECIAL EFFECTS

Mario Campoy, Iñaki Madariaga (“The Platform”)

Jon Serrano, David Heras (“The Endless Trench”)

Raúl Romanillos, Juanma Nogales (“While at War”)

Juan Ramón Molina, Félix Bergés (“Perdiendo el Este”)

FICTION SHORT

“El nadador” (Pablo Barce)

“Foreigner” (Carlos Violadé Guerrero)

“Maras” (Salvador Calvo)

Suc de Síndria (Irene Moray)

Xiao Xian (Jiajie Yu)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

“2001 Sparks in the Dark” (Pedro González Bermúdez)

“El infierno” (Raúl de la Fuente)

“The European Dream: Serbia” (Jaime Alekos)

“Our Life as Refugee Children in Europe” (Silvia Venegas)

ANIMATED SHORT

“El árbol de las almas perdidas,” (Laura Zamora Cabeza)

“Homomaquia” (David Fidalgo Omil)

“Madrid 2120” (José Luís Quirós, Paco Sáez)

“Muedra” (César Díaz Meléndez)