Laurence Dollimore
A CASH-strapped Spaniard has attempted to sell the Goya award he won with his brother at a Cash Converters after the film they wrote left him close to broke.
Eduardo Bajo Ulloa, who is believed to have been behind the sale, wrote Butterfly Wings with his brother Juanma, and received the best original script award at the Spanish version of the Oscars in 1991.
But the pair suffered so much to get their film made that it almost left them bankrupt.
The bronze award was being displayed in the window of a Cash Converters in Vitoria, their hometown, with a €4,999 price tag, but it had to be removed after the store was inundated with enquiries.
“The award was in the shop but has now been returned after causing a bit of a stir,”
confirmed an employee at the store.
The brothers have yet to comment on the sale of their gong, but after making their film some 25 years ago, they described the financial toll it took on their lives, with one of the brothers, Eduardo, having to mortgage his house to raise enough money to get it made.
One film critic remarked on Twitter: “It’s a real Goya and a demonstration of the precarious state of the Spanish film industry.”
