The sweet moment of the Spanish audiovisual industry has been projected throughout the ten days of the XXIII Almería International Film Festival and has been confirmed tonight at the FICAL Closing Gala, where some of the protagonists of the best series and films have walked, such as Carmen Machi, Aitor Luna, Yon González, Alberto San Juan, Eva Martín, Elena Irureta, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Mabel Lozano, Petra Martínez, José Corbacho, Pedro Alonso, Patricia Montero, Pilar Castro, Antonio Pagudo, Javier Veiga, Martín Cuervo and Karra Elejalde and Cayetana Guillen Cuervo. A firmament of stars who have expressed their attraction for the natural setting that is the province and for the affection they receive from the people of Almería at FICAL. And the festival has had the participation of more than 600 professionals from film and television.
The Maestro Padilla Auditorium was dressed in its finest to award the first films, including ‘La estrella azul’, by Javier Macipe, inspired by the music and life of Mauricio Aznar, which received three awards: Best Script, Best Director and Best Film. The reference series were also applauded, with two classics among the winners, actress Carmen Marchi (Celeste T1) and actor Alberto San Juan (Cristóbal Balenciaga). And the fan phenomenon spread to the entire auditorium when the new protagonists of the return of that fiction that is part of the collective imagination, ‘Física o Química’, were seen on stage. The culmination was the recognition of a well-known actor, Karra Elejalde, with a chameleon-like ability to play roles of different profiles, who had already discovered his star on the Walk of Fame in the morning, and who received the Almería, Tierra de Cine Award, as did Najwa Nimri. It was the icing on the cake of a great edition, in a gala as always brilliantly presented by Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, and on this occasion, with music by the duo ‘Marlena’.
The Closing Gala was also supported by the provincial authorities: the President of the Provincial Council, Javier A. García, the Mayor of Almería, María del Mar Vázquez, and the Delegate of the Andalusian Government, Aránzazu Martín, as well as the Secretary General of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía, José Vélez, and those who have been in charge of the day-to-day: the Deputy for Culture, Cinema and Almerian Identity, Almudena Morales, and the Director of FICAL, Enrique Iznaola. Also present, among other representatives, was the Councillor for Culture of the City Council of Almería, Diego Cruz.
Well-deserved tributes
As Cayetana Guillén-Cuervo has said, “sometimes we like to say that awards are not important, but in reality they are. And very much so, because it is like a hug, a way of recognising that you are doing well.” And tonight Almería wants to give many hugs to the audiovisual industry in the form of awards for first films, series and also tributes, specifically three.
In an era of returns to the front page, from Duncan Dhu to El Último de la Fila in music, Gran Prix or Gran Hermano in television shows, and Los Hombres de Paco or Los misterios de Paco, the admission of new students to the Zurbarán institute for the long-awaited return of ‘Física o Química’ has been announced with neon lights. The phenomenon that Antena 3 premiered in 2008 and had seven seasons until 2011, with a brief reunion in 2020, has been honored at the Closing Gala with the Festival de Series Honor Award.
Cayetana Guillén Cuervo recalled the keys to her success: “it was one of the most successful groups of actors in history” and “she spoke shamelessly about controversial issues, such as homophobia, drugs or relationships between teachers and students”, to immediately get up and bring up on stage the new class that will star in Atresmedia’s youth stories: Biel Antón, María Bernardeu, Biel Castaño, Carla Domínguez, Esther Mejorada and Julia Camus, who, by the way, is from Almería. Faces that in a few months will be very recognizable and followed by the audience.
The gala had its grand finale with the ‘Almería Tierra de Cine’ award to Karra Elejalde, a prolific and versatile actor. The award was presented to him by the president of the Provincial Council, Javier A. García, who said that «Karra’s career is like the landscapes of Almería Tierra de Cine, which works equally well in comedy, in an action story or in dramas. Karra joins the long list of stars that fill our festival with light.» In addition, Javier A. García wanted to highlight «the success of FICAL, a key tool in our strategy to promote the wonderful locations that our province has, and a festival that professionals in the audiovisual industry want to attend because they feel at home.»
Karra Elejalde has expressed her gratitude for the tribute, both the star on the Walk of Fame and this award at the FICAL Closing Gala, she has recalled the filming of ‘Año Mariano’ in the province and has stated that «I like to interpret the adventures of little quixotes, and not pigeonhole myself into any character or genre.»
The third tribute and second ‘Almería, Tierra de Cine’ award of the night was for actress Najwa Nimri, who filmed part of the series ‘Vis a vis’ in Almería. The change in the filming schedule for her new series prevented her from being present at the gala. However, Najwa Nimri has sent a message to all FICAL fans, where she has confessed that she feels very excited about this distinction.
First Film Awards
Throughout the ten days of FICAL, the twelve first films competing in an edition have been screened, as stated on different occasions by the director of the festival, Enrique Iznaola, “of great quality in all the works. The level this year is very high.” The awards of the Almería festival are considered the prelude to the Goyas, so these titles will have to be kept in mind in the nominations of the Spanish Film Academy.
Of course, the jury, chaired by Ana Torrent and made up of Álvaro Longoria, Aria Bedmar, Javier Balaguer, Javier Veiga, Lucía Jiménez and Rubén Cortaza, had a difficult time making their verdict, but they agreed that one production stood out above the rest with three awards. It was ‘La estrella azul’, by Javier Macipe, based on the life and music of Mauricio Aznar, which was recognised as Best First Film, Cosentino Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay.
The director and screenwriter of ‘La estrella azul’, Javier Macipe, and its protagonist, Pepe Lorente, shared, in a press conference, the ins and outs of this biography about the figure of Mauricio Aznar, a «pioneering and charismatic» rocker of the Zaragoza music scene of the 80s, who at the beginning of the 90s decided to travel to Argentina to delve deeper into the call he felt for the folklore of Santiago del Estero and other regions.
The award has been given to a project with a very documentary narrative and a wide background before it was released. “It has been a process that has taken me ten years and that has included interviews with all his family, friends, trips to Argentina, a very immersive work that also reached Pepe (Lorente) in 2019, who also travelled with me and was in close contact with Mauricio’s friends and family to catch that essence,” said the director. A debut film dedicated to anonymous musicians and which has had its transmedia continuation with the formation of the musical group of the same name.
The Special Jury Prize went to ‘Por donde pasa el silencio’, by Sandra Romero, an honest and natural portrait of the reunion of a young man who arrives from the big city, in this case from Madrid, with his family, who live in a small town, Écija. A work signed by Sandra Romero Acevedo and which has received praise from critics and the public since its presentation at the San Sebastian Festival and will surely do so again this afternoon at FICAL. Sandra Romero explained that «what the public is going to find is a family film, from the most absolute normality, and what I am seeing is that each one projects themselves in this family story.»
The Eduardo Fajardo Award for Best Actor went to Antonio Araque for ‘Por donde pasa el silencio’. Intense and realistic, with brilliant dialogues such as the relationship with his brother, Javier, and how to deal with the decision that his brother, who has sclerosis, does not want to undergo surgery, even though the protagonist thinks it is not the best option.
The Torrecárdenas Award for Best Actress goes to Sonia Barba, for ‘Fin de fiesta’. In her first foray into cinema, Sonia Barba is a real discovery in the role of the crazy and zany lady of high society, and her relationship with the servant and especially with the immigrant who has sneaked into her noble house.
Series Awards
FICAL is the only festival that awards short films, feature films and series, in other words, the entire audiovisual industry. And series have been the latest to join the awards, making a strong entrance. At FICAL, awards are given to the best daily series, the most popular, comedies, dramas and miniseries.
The best daily series was ‘Valle Salvaje’, from RTVE/Netflix; the award for the Most Popular Series went to ‘Sueños de libertad’, from Atresmedia; in comedy the best series is ‘Celeste’ T1 (Movistar Plus+) and in drama series, ‘Entrevías T4’ (Mediaset), which yesterday also received the Special Series award from FICAL. Finally, the Best Miniseries is ‘Querer’ (Movistar Plus +). Among the winners, two classics such as Carmen Marchi and Alberto San Juan.
The distribution of the different awards is as follows:
In the comedy block,
- Best Actress in a Comedy for Carmen Marchi, for Celeste T-1 (Movistar Plus+).
- Best comedy actor, Berto Romero, for ‘The Other Side’ (Movistar Plus +).
- Best Comedy Showrunner, David Sainz and Enrique Lojo, for ‘En fin’ (Amazon Prime Video)
- Best comedy series ‘Celeste’ S1 (Movistar Plus+)
In the drama series block,
- Best Dramatic Actress, Adriana Ozores for ‘Galgos’ (Movistar Plus +)
- Best Dramatic Actor, Yon González for ‘Beguines’ (Atresmedia)
- Drama Series Showrunner Award, Inés Rodríguez for ‘Beguinas’ (Atresmedia).
- And the Best Drama Series, ‘Entrevías’ S3 (Mediaset)
And in the Miniseries block,
- Best Actress in a Miniseries, Iria del Río for ‘The New Years’ (Movistar Plus +).
- Best Actor in a Miniseries, Alberto San Juan for ‘Cristóbal Balenciaga’ (Disney+).
- Best Miniseries Showrunner, Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo, for ‘See You in Another Life’ (Disney Plus).
- Best Miniseries Award, ‘Querer’ (Movistar Plus +).
A photo of all the award winners on stage has put the finishing touch to the XXIII Almería International Film Festival, which will conclude tomorrow, Sunday, with the screening of the winning productions, from 5 pm at the Apolo theatre, plus the ‘Summers Times’ exhibition and the Cinema and Music in the province cycle.
The Provincial Council will start the countdown to the new edition on Monday and works tirelessly every day to ensure that the audiovisual industry focuses on the province’s locations and shoots its great stories on the natural set of Almería. Short films, feature films, series. Cinema. Almería