Sundays (Los Domingos)

Source: Movistar Plus+

Sundays (Los Domingos)

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Sundays (Los Domingos) has swept the top categories at the 40th Goya Awards in Barcelona, taking five prizes including best film, actress, and director for Ruiz de Azúa, who became only the fourth woman to win the award in four decades.

Ruiz de Azúa joins a select list of female director winners alongside Isabel Coixet, Icíar Bollaín, and Pilar Miró. Her San Sebastian Golden Shell-winning feature centres on a young woman (newcomer Blanca Soroa), who tells her family that she wants to become a nun. Patricia López Arnaiz won the best actress award for her role as the youngster’s aunt, and Nagore Aramburu won supporting actress.

Sold internationally by Le Pacte, Sundays marks Ruiz de Azúa’s second feature after Lullaby, which Pedro Almodóvar called “the best debut in years”. 

Buenapinta Media, Colosé Producciones, Encanta Films, Sayaka and Movistar Plus+ produced the coming-of-age story, which began the night on 13 nominations and ultimately collected five awards, including original screenplay for Ruiz de Azúa.

Oliver Laxe’s Cannes world premiere and Oscar-nominated Sirât began the ceremony with 11 nominations and emerged with six wins:  original score for Kangding Ray, editing for Cristóbal Fernández, production design for Oriol Maymó, cinematography for Laxe regular Laxe’s Mauro Herce, art direction for Laia Ateca, and sound for Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, and Yasmina Praderas – “the first team exclusively feminine in being Oscar-nominated ever in this category”, as they proudly declared at the ceremony.

Sold internationally by The Match Factory, the existential adventure of a father searching for his daughter across Morocco’s quasi-lunar landscapes is produced by A Filmes da Ermida, El Deseo, Uri Films, Los Desertores Films AIE, and 4A4 Productions, in co-production with Movistar Plus+.

Movistar Plus+ amassed 13 awards in total in addition to wins for Los Tigres for best visual effects and Flores Para Antonio for best song.

Best new director went to Eva Libertad for Deaf (Sorda), which explores the challenges a deaf woman faces as she navigates motherhood in a hearing world. Dolores Fonzi’s Oscar-shortlisted Argentinian drama Belén won best Latin American film, while Joachim Trier’s multiple Oscar nominee Sentimental Value was named best European film.

Politics

Saturday’s (February 28) ceremony at Auditori Fòrum CCIB drew frequent political statements amid the current global political and military instability, some oblique, others more direct. Luis Tosar, who hosted with Rigoberta Bandini, earned strong applause from the audience when he used his opening remarks to condemn the violence in Gaza.

Susan Sarandon received the International Goya of Honour and thanked “the Spanish president and many Spanish artists for speaking with such moral clarity that helps me where I am, in the middle of chaos and repression”. Sarandon added, “It helps me feel less alone and part of a larger community.”

Veteran writer-director Gonzalo Suárez, the 1989 Goya best director winner for Rowing With The Wind (Remando Al Viento), received the Honorary Goya and also struck a political note without naming names, on the day the United States and Israel launched attacks in Iran: “There is a man who plays golf with our world with impunity, trying to sink it into the darkest hole.” His remarks received a warm ovation.

Key Goya 2026 winners

Best film

Sundays – Alauda Ruiz de Azúa

Best director

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa – Sundays

Best new director

Eva Libertad – Deaf

Best original screenplay

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa – Sundays

Best adapted screenplay

Joaquim Oristrell, Manuel Gómez Pereira, Yolanda García Serrano – The Dinner (La Cena)

Best original score

Kangding Ray – Sirât

Best actress

Patricia López Arnaiz – Sundays

Best actor

José Ramón Soroiz – Maspalomas

Best supporting actress

Nagore Aramburu – Sundays

Best supporting actor

Álvaro Cervantes – Deaf

Best new actor

Antonio ‘Toni’ Fernández Gabarre – Sleepless City (Ciudad Sin Sueño)

Best new actress

Miriam Garlo – Deaf

Best cinematography

Mauro Herce – Sirât

Best sound

Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, Yasmina Praderas – Sirât

Best editing

Cristóbal Fernández – Sirât

Best art direction

Laia Ateca Font – Sirât

Best production design

Oriol Maymó – Sirât

Best animation feature

Decorado

Best documentary

Afternoons Of Solitude (Tardes de Soledad)

Best Latin American film

Belén

Best European Film

Sentimental Value

Best special effects

Los Tigres

Best Hair and Makeup

The Captive (Cautivo)

Best costume

The Dinner (La Cena).

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