Spanish – Venezuelan Production Wins Best Ibero-American Film at Goya Awards
The film Blue and Not So Pink (Azul y No Tan Rosa) has become the first Venezuelan film to win a Goya at the Spanish Academy of Art’s prestigious annual Goya awards ceremony.
Mérida, 10th February 2014 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – The film Blue and Not So Pink (Azul y No Tan Rosa) has become the first Venezuelan film to win a Goya at the Spanish Academy of Art’s prestigious annual Goya awards ceremony.
Blue and Not So Pink tells the story of Diego, a Caracas-based homosexual photographer who tries to reestablish relations with his son Armando, who lives in Madrid, Spain. However this process proves difficult as Armando reproaches Diego not for his sexuality, but for the lack of attention he has paid to his son in recent years.
The film was co-produced between Spain and Venezuela, and received the support of Venezuela’s National Autonomous Centre of Cinematography (CNAC) and the government-founded Villa del Cine studios. It premiered in November 2012.
“This is the first Goya for Venezuela!” exclaimed the film’s Venezuelan director Miguel Ferrari in his acceptance speech in Madrid on Sunday evening. “Since 7 January in Venezuela, when the nominations were announced, this has been experienced like a world cup final,” he added.
The director thanked family, producers, the film team and Venezuelan cinema in his speech. “I made a film that speaks to everyone, independently of their preference. A story about love and reunion. I hope that one day we Venezuelans manage to reunite and respect each other despite our differences,” Ferrari said.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro recognised the award via twitter, writing, “Congratulations from everyone in our country”.
The award comes amid a renaissance of Venezuelan cinema after the national film industry experienced a collapse in the 1990s.
In part thanks to government policies to fund more national productions, including setting up the Villa del Cine studios in 2006, the number of Venezuelans who went to see nationally-produced films increased from 77,000 in 1994 to over 2 million in 2012. The number of locally-produced films has also increased, reaching around 30 new Venezuelan films produced last year.