In a historic first, Marcel Barrera’s heroic bus driver heart warmer “The 47” and Arantxa Echeverría terrorist org infiltrator thriller “Undercover” became the first films ever to share the best picture Spanish Academy Goya on Saturday night at a ceremony where Richard Gere lashed out at Donald Trump.
“We are in a very dark place in America where we have a bully and a thug who is the president of the United States,” Gere said, accepting this year’s International Goya.
A surprise, Pedro Almodóvar won best-adapted screenplay and best cinematography (Eduard Grau), despite not being nominated for best picture.
“In ‘The Room Next Door,’ John Turturro’s character warns Julianne Moore at a meal that there is nothing that can accelerate the end of the planet more than the survival of the level of neoliberalism and the rise of the extreme right. And here we have both of them walking side by side, sooner or later, and I fear it will be sooner. This is going down the drain,” Almodóvar said in a message read out at the ceremony by brother Agustin Amodóvar.
Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez won best director for “Saturn Return,” an often laughably subversive crowd-pleasing portrait of indie rock group Los Planetas on the cusp of recording the album which proved their breakthrough.
Caroline Yuste, star of “Undercover,” scored best actress, beating both “The Room Next Door” stars Tilda Swinton and Julia Moore.
“Emilia Pérez” took Best European Film but, as anticipated, the award was accepted not by Karla Sofia Gascón, who did not attend Saturday night’s Spanish Academy Goya Awards, but rather its Spanish distributors, Wanda Vision’s Miguel Morales and Elástica’s Enrique Costa, designated to accept the award by the film’s producer, France’s Why Not.
In other high-profile awards, Walter Salles’ best picture Oscar contender “I’m Still Here” won best Ibero-American picture.
Javier Bardem and Antonio Banderas gave star wattage to the ceremony, which was noted in its run-up as much for its absences as attendees. Pedro Almodóvar and Penelope Cruz canceled sick from ‘the flu.
In one of the ceremony’s emotional high points, daughter María Isasi delivered a homage to Almodóvar star Marisa Paredes (“The Flower of My Secret”), who died on Dec. 17. “She was adored, loved and respected. She just didn’t know how much.”
Spain‘s 39th Goyas Awards finally focused, however, on this year’s winners. Based on true events, “The 47” climaxes in how Manolo Vital, a Barcelona bus driver, persuaded authorities to open up a bus route from the city to Torre Baró, an outlying village, by a fact of rebellion in 1978.
Much of the film, however, explores Vital’s experience as a Spanish immigrant who moved from southern Extremadura to Barcelona, escaping gross poverty.
The film, naturally enough, has touched a national nerve: modern-day Spain was forged by Spaniards emigrating from villages to its big cities. “The film explores the immigrant experience,” notes The Mediapro Studio’s Javier Méndez. “It asks when you begin to develop a sense of belonging.”
Produced by Bowfinger International Pictures, headed by María Luisa Gutiérrez and Santiago Segura, and Beta Fiction, “Undercover” turns on a real-life woman police officer who infiltrated Basque terrorist org ETA at the age of 20.
“We think sometimes that young spectators don’t want to know what happened in the past. That’s wrong,” said Mercedes Gamero at Beta Fiction.
“The producers would like to share this prize with the real-life infiltrator and everybody who, like her, risk their lives for the principles of democracy,” Gutiérrez added.
“The 47” and “Undercover” may also point to an incipient sea change in what kind of Spanish movies Spaniards want to see, proving two of three quality commercial films of social point made for adult audiences – along with dysfunctional Catalan family satire “A House on Fire” – which all three scored best picture nominations at this year’s Goyas and have scored notable breakout box office in Spain, “Undercover” grossing €8 million ($8.3 million) at Spanish cinemas.
“The 47” and “Undercover” didn’t have it all their way, however. “The 47’s” star Eduard Fernández scored best actor, but for another film, false Holocaust victim imposter drama “Marco,” directed by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño.
Eduard Sola nabbed best original screenplay for “A House on Fire.”
In other awards, “The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés,” the feature debut of Anton Álvarez, better known as singer-composer C. Tangana, proved one of the most popular winners of the nights, scooping best doc feature and song, the touching love song “Los Almendros” sung at the end of the film by La Tania.
Javier Macipe walked off with best new director for “The Blue Star,” a portrait of Spanish rocker Mauricio Aznar, while Pepe Llorente took best new actor.
Aitana Sánchez Gijón, star of “A Walk in the Clouds,” where she played opposite Keanu Reeves, and Brad Anderson’s cult movie “The Machinist,” accepted an Honorary Goya making reference once more implicitly to Trump. “We shouldn’t be afraid of culture but the new imperialisms,” she averred.
2025 GOYA AWARD WINNERS
BEST PICTURE
“Undercover,” (Arantxa Echevarría)
“A House on Fire,” (Dani de la Orden)
“The Blue Star,” (Javier Macipe)
“Saturn Return,” (Isaki Lacuesta, Pol Rodríguez)
“The 47,” (Marcel Barrena)
DIRECTOR
Arantxa Echevarría, “Undercover”
Pol Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, “Saturn Return”
Pedro Almodóvar, “The Room Next Door”
Paula Ortiz, “The Red Virgin”
Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño, “Marco, the Invented Truth”
ACTRESS
Carolina Yuste, “Undercover”
Emma Vilarasau, “A House on Fire”
Julianne Moore, “The Room Next Door”
Tilda Swinton, “The Room Next Door”
Patricia López Arnaiz, “Glimmers”
ACTOR
Vito Sanz, “The Other Way Around”
Eduard Fernández, “Marco, the Invented Truth”
Alberto San Juan, “A House on Fire”
Alfredo Castro, “They Will Be Dust”
Urko Olazabal, “I’m Nevenka”
NEW DIRECTOR
Pedro Martín Calero, “The Wailing”
Javier Macipe, “The Blue Star”
Sandra Romero, “As Silence Passes By”
Miguel Faus, “The Quiet Maid”
Paz Vega, “Rita”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Nausicaa Bonnín, “Undercover”
Clara Segura, “The 47”
Macarena García, “A House on Fire”
Maria Rodríguez Soto, “A House on Fire”
Aixa Villagrán, “The Red Virgin”
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Luis Tosar, “Undercover”
Salva Reina, “The 47”
Enric Auquer, “A House on Fire”
Antonio de la Torre, “Glimmers”
Óscar de la Fuente, “La casa”
NEW ACTRESS
Zoe Bonafonte, “The 47”
Laura Weissmahr, “Salve Maria”
Marina Guerola, “Glimmers”
Lucía Veiga, “I’m Nevenka”
Mariela Carabajal, “The Blue Star”
NEW ACTOR
Cristalino, “Saturn Return”
Cuti Carabajal, “The Blue Star”
Pepe Lorente, “The Blue Star”
Óscar Lasarte, “May I Speak with the Enemy?”
Daniel Ibañez, “Saturn Return”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“A House on Fire,” (Eduard Sola)
“Undercover,” (Arantxa Echevarría, Amèlia Mora)
“Marco, the Invented Truth,” (Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi, Jorge Gil Munarriz, José María Goenaga)
“The Blue Star,” (Javier Macipe)
“The 47,” (Marcel Barrena, Alberto Marini)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Room Next Door,” (Pedro Almodóvar)
“Salve Maria,” (Mar Coll, Valentina Viso)
“Glimmers,” (Pilar Palomero)
“I’m Nevenka,” (Icíar Bollaín, Isa Campo)
“La casa,” (Álex Montoya, Joana M. Ortueta)
ANIMATED FEATURE
“Buffalo Kids,” (Pedro Solís García, Juan Jesus Garcia Galocha)
“Rock Bottom,” (María Trénor)
“Black Butterflies,” (David Baute)
“SuperKlaus,” (Andrea Sebastiá, Steve Majaury)
“Dragonkeeper,” (Salvador Simó Busom, Li Jianping)
DOCUMENTARY
“My Brother Ali,” (Paula Palacios)
“Domingo Domingo,” (Laura García Andreu)
“Marisol, Llámame Pepa,” (Blanca Torres)
“You Are Not Alone: Fighting the Wolf Pack,” (Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar=
“The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés,” (C. Tangana)
IBERO-AMERICAN FILM
“Kill the Jockey,” (Luis Ortega)
“Don’t You Let Me Go,” (Leticia Jorge, Ana Guevara)
“I’m Still Here,” (Walter Salles)
“Memories of a Burning Body,” (Antonella Sudasassi Furniss)
“In Her Place,” (Maite Alberdi)
EUROPEAN FILM
“Flow,” (Gints Zilbalodis)
“Emilia Pérez,” (Jacques Audiard)
“The Count of Monte Cristo,” (Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte)
“The Zone of Interest,” (Jonathan Glazer)
“La chimera,” (Alice Rohrwacher)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Undercover,” (Javier Salmones)
“The Room Next Door,” (Eduard Grau)
“Saturn Return,” (Takuro Takeuchi)
“The 47,” (Isaac Vila)
“I’m Nevenka,” (Gris Jordana)
PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Undercover,” (Axier Pérez Serrano)
“A House on Fire,” (Laia Gómez)
“The Red Virgin,” (Kati Martí Donoghue)
“Saturn Return,” (Carlos Amoedo)
“The 47,” (Carlos Apolinario)
ART DIRECTION
“The Red Virgin,” (Javier Alvariño)
“The Room Next Door,” (Inbal Weinberg)
“Saturn Return,” (Pepe Domínguez del Olmo)
“The 47,” (Marta Bazaco)
“The Other Way Around,” (Miguel Ángel Rebollo)
SPECIAL EFFECTS
“Undercover,” (Jon Serrano, Mariano García Marty, Juliana Lasunción)
“Marco, the Invented Truth,” (Jon Serrano, David Heras, Mariano García Marty)
“The Red Virgin,” (Raúl Romanillos, Juanma Nogales)
“Dragonkeeper,” (Xin Li)
“The 47,” (Laura Canals, Iván López Hernández)
EDITING
“Undercover,” (Victoria Lammers)
“The Blue Star,” (Javier Macipe, Nacho Blasco)
“Saturn Return,” (Javi Frutos)
“The 47,” (Nacho Ruiz Capillas)
“Little Loves,” (Fernando Franco)
SOUND
“Undercover,” (Fabio Huete, Jorge Castillo Ballesteros, Miriam Lisón, Mayte Cabrera)
“The Red Virgin,” (Nacho Royo-Villanova, Álex F. Capilla, José Luis Fernández)
“The Blue Star,” (Amanda Villavieja, Joaquín Rajadel, Víctor Puertas, Mayte Cabrera, Nicolas de Poulpiquet)
“The Room Next Door,” (Sergio Bürmann, Marc Orts, Anna Harrington)
“Saturn Return,” (Diana Sagrista, Eva Valiño, Alejandro Castillo, Antonin Dalmasso)
ORIGINAL SCORE
“Undercover,” (Fernando Velázquez)
“The Room Next Door,” (Alberto Iglesias)
“Verano en diciembre,” (Sergio De La Puente)
“Dragonkeeper,” (Arturo Cardelús)
“The 47,” (Arnau Bataller)
ORIGINAL SONG
“Love is the Worst,” Isaki Lacuesta, Alondra Bentley
“La Virgen Roja,” Maria Arnal
“Los Almendros,” C. Tangana, Yerai Cortés, La Tania
“Show Me,” Fernando Velázquez
“El Borde del Mundo,” Valeria Castro
COSTUME DESIGN
“The Red Virgin,” (Arantxa Ezquerro)
“The Room Next Door,” (Bina Daigeler)
“Saturn Return,” (Lourdes Fuentes)
“Disco, Ibiza, Locomía,” (Ester Palaudàries, Vinyet Escobar)
“The 47,” (Olga Rodal, Irantzu Campos)
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Undercover,” (Patricia Rodríguez, Tono Garzón)
“Marco, the Invented Truth,” (Karmele Soler, Nacho Díaz, Sergio Pérez Derbel)
“The Red Virgin,” (Elisabeth Adánez, Paco Rodríguez Frías)1
“The Room Next Door,” (Morag Ross, Manolo García)
“The 47,” (Karol Tornaria)
SHORT FILM, FICTION
“The Masterpiece,” (Àlex Lora)
“El Trono,” (Lucía Jiménez)
“Cuarentena,” (Celia de Molina)
“Mamántula,” (Ion de Sosa)
“The Eternal Night,” (Eneko Sagardoy)
SHORT FILM, DOCUMENTARY
“Southern Brides,” (Elena López Riera)
“Seeds from Kivu,” (Néstor López, Carlos Valle)
“Els buits,” (Marina Freixa Roca, Isa Luengo, Sofia Esteve Santonja)
“Ciao Bambina,” (Carolina Yuste, Afioco)
“30s Are (NOT) the New 20s,” (Juan Vicente Castillejo)
SHORT FILM, ANIMATED
“Wan,” (Víctor Monigote)
“Cafunè,” (Carlos Fernández de Vigo, Lorena Ares)
“Illustrated Woman,” (Isabel Herguera)
“The Change Of The Wheel,” (Bego Arostegui)
“Lola, Lolita, Lolaza,” (Mabel Lozano)
HONORARY GOYA
Aitana Sanchez Gijon
HONORARY INTERNATIONAL GOYA
Richard Gere