The nominees for Spain's 2023 Goya Awards are out - and the numbers are, to say the least, beastly. As bestas ("The Beasts"), the trilingual Galician suspense thriller from director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, is the most nominated proposal with 17 nominations. Close behind is Modelo 77 ("Prison 77"), Alberto Rodríguez's movie whose title comes from the former Barcelona prison where it was set and filmed; it has 16 nominations. The Alcarràs phenomenon, the Catalan language film by Carla Simón that won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in February and is Spain's entry for the Oscars 2023, is back in third place with 11 nominations, tying with Cinco lobitos ("Lullaby)", from director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa. These four films with double-digit numbers of nominations will compete in the Best Film category along with La maternal, the new film from Pilar Palomero who won the Goya in 2021 with her feature film, Las niñas ("Schoolgirls"). These nominations were announced by the Spanish film academy in a public reading which included actresses Nora Navas and Blanca Portillo, both winners of awards last year. The big night of Spanish cinema will take place on February 11th, 2023 in Seville, in a gala presented by Antonio de la Torre and Clara Lago.
Of the 165 feature films that were (or will be) released) between January 1st and December 31st, 2022, in the Spanish state, other movies that also made it to the nominations list from the academy are Cerdita ("Piggy") by Carlota Pereda, which won at the Sitges Film Festival, and Los renglones torcidos de Dios ("God's Crooked Lines"), with 6 nominations each. En los márgenes ("On the Fringe"), the directing debut of actor Juan Diego Botto, opts for 5 awards, which include Best New Director for Botto, Best Leading Actor for Luis Tosar and Best Supporting Actress for Penélope Cruz. This is the first time in the history of the Goya prizes when five nominations will go through to the final vote in all 28 categories - which partly explains the large totals racked up by the favourites, since there are 26 new nominations up for grabs.
As bestas makes a beastly leap forward with 17 Goya nominations
The rural thriller directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen has the chance of winning the most statuettes, with a total of 17 nominations. Sorogoyen will also compete in the best director category with Carla Simón (Alcarràs), Pilar Palomero (La maternal), Carlos Vermut (Mantícora) and Alberto Rodríguez (Modelo 77). He also competes for best original screenplay, along with Isabel Peñas, and his film is present in all the acting categories. The nominees for best leading actress are Anna Castillo (Los girasoles silvestres), Marina Foïs (As bestas), Laia Costa (Cinco lobitos), Bárbara Lennie (Los renglones torcidos de Dios) and Vicky Luengo (Suro). In the category of best leading actor, nominations go to Denis Ménochet (As bestas), Luis Tosar (En los márgenes), Nacho Sánchez (Mantícora) and the two protagonists of Modelo 77, the duo Javier Gutiérrez and Miguel Herrán, who won the Goya for best new actor for A cambio de nada in 2016, before gaining popularity with his role as Río in the La casa de papel ("Moneyheist") series.