Imogen Calderwood
ANTONIO Banderas has received the top honour at Spain’s Goya Awards, while two Andalucia-based films sweep the board.
Malaga-born Banderas was handed the Goya of Honour award for his lifetime achievements in the film industry.
“You should know that every time I finished a shot or a sequence, my mind was always focused on Spain, not America,” said the actor.
“I was thinking how it would be viewed in Spain… and more importantly in Malaga.”
He ended by dedicating the award to ‘the person who has paid the most’ for his career success, his daughter Stella Carmen, daughter of his ex-wife Melanie Griffith.
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar slipped in a cutting remark to cultural minister Jose Ignacio Wert, the man responsible for massive 2013 IVA hikes for cultural events – from 8% to 21%.
“Good evening, people of culture and Spanish cinema friends. Mr Wert, you are not included in these categories,” he said, before presenting Banderas with his award at Saturday’s ceremony.
But the main winner of the night was La Isla Minima – known as Marshland in English – a police thriller set in the marshlands outside Sevilla.
Directed by Alberto Rodriguez, the film took €6.3 million at the box office, and scooped 10 awards – known as the Spanish Oscars – including Best Film and Best Director.
The other main competitor, El Nino – about drug trafficking in Algeciras – won just four technical Goyas of the 16 categories in which it competed.
