‘The Snow Society’ by J.A. Bayona, ‘Close your eyes’ by Víctor Erice and ‘20,000 species of bees’ by Estibaliz Urresola are the three titles preselected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to represent Spain in the next edition of the Oscars, number 96 , in the category of Best International Film. On September 20, the Academy will choose from the shortlist and announce the title that will finally represent Spain at the Hollywood Academy Awards.
From Venice, J.A. Bayona has explained that the film, which deals with the plane crash that in 1972 left 29 survivors in the Andes who were even forced to cannibalism to survive, will be released in cinemas as well as on Netflix. And he has highlighted that he is “very happy to be here, to return home, to shoot in our language, being embraced by colleagues is very important to us, I have been shooting abroad for seven years and not shooting in Spanish for 16, raise the funding of this film has been impossible, we achieved it in the end, and we are very happy with the public’s response. And with a view to the possible final nomination, he added that they are “showing the film in Los Angeles and the reaction is wonderful, very positive, we have a partner, Netflix, who wants to give everything and is committed to supporting it as much as possible if we go out”.
Estibaliz Urresolo, director of ‘20,000 species of bees’, whose protagonist, Sofía Otero, won the Golden Bear in Berlin at just 10 years old for her performance, has acknowledged that “there were very powerful titles and compelling arguments to be preselected and I “I tried not to get too excited so that the balloon wouldn’t inflate, everything that is happening to the film is happening as an extra gift to any expectations we might have had.” “The film deals with an important issue that we have to address,” she stressed, in this case the childhood of a transsexual girl.
José Coronado, one of the protagonists of ‘Cerrar los ojos’, the film with which Víctor Erice – who has not been able to attend the Academy because he was traveling – has returned to feature film with ‘Cerrar los ojos’ three decades after ‘ El sol del membrillo’, has pointed out that he is “happy to have a little gem in his hands that can be seen all over the world and that is being asked for from all over the world because there are wonderful international reviews, we are very happy with the work done” The film, which revolves around the disappearance of an actor during the filming of a film, whose body is never found, is having a great run through international festivals and is on the ‘shortlist’ of the Film Awards European.
The actress Natalia de Molina, the producer Esther García, and the director and screenwriter Borja Cobeaga, members of the Hollywood Academy and the Spanish Film Academy, have read the three preselected films, accompanied by the president of the Fernando Méndez-Leite Academy and the notary Eva Fernández Medina.
