Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, Maillo’s Eva also win.

As anticipated, Enrique Urbizu police thriller No Rest for The Wicked was the big winner of Spanish Cinema Academy’s Goya Awards last night. This film about a corrupt police officer and Arab terrorists won for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (José Coronado), Best Original Script as well as Sound Mixing and Editing. 

Pedro Almodovar, who just won the foreign language BAFTA with The Skin I Live In, has 16 nominations going into the Goyas. He declared in the red carpet that he was “ready to lose” — the film won four Goyas, for Best Actress (Elena Anaya), Best New Actor (Jan Cornet), Best Music (Alberto Iglesias) and Best Make Up. 

The other winner of the night was android fantasy Eva, by Kike Maillo. This futuristic drama about two brothers in love with the same women won for Best New Director (Kike Maillo), Best Supporting Actor (LLuis Homar) and Best Visual Effects. 

Argentinian Chinese Take-Away won for Best Latin American movie and The Artist for Best European movie. Wrinkels was considered the Best Animation feature of the year and Josefina Molina received the honorary Goya. 

Neither The Sleeping Voice (9 nominations) nor Blackthorn (11) had strong results despite their number of nominations. The former won as Best New Actress (María León), Best Supporting Actress (Ana Wagener) and Best Song. Mateo Gil’s Western Blackthorn won for Best Cinematography and Best Design of Production. 

Amidst Government spending cuts and a new legislation in the near future, the speech by the President of the Academy, Enrique González Macho, appealed for widespread support of Spanish cinema across party lines. He also called for a renewal of traditional public funding.