It won’t be long before the rules for the 2018 Goya Awards are published; last year we found out about them in mid-June. These days I have been reviewing the posts I published about the new rules and the results of the new measures after almost a year since they were published.
The new rules had some successes, but also issues that should be fixed this year. In this post I wanted to make some proposals to improve these rules, especially based on this year’s experience and previous years. These proposals share one common element: making things easier and increasing the opportunities for short films, in line with the work carried out by other academies, as I mentioned when I talked about the Students Academy Awards.
These are the five proposals, in which I analyse the problems and possible solutions:
#1 Awards at film festivals
The new rules got it right by defining the awards at Spanish festivals required for eligibility. The problem is that these awards are sometimes not aimed only at Spanish short films and can be repeated from one festival to another. Therefore, there is a lack of guarantees that the same number of short films will qualify as there are awards.
The proposal would be to create a specific award that qualifies for the Goya Awards, taking the EFA Awards as a reference. This award could be called the Academy Award (as the Aguilar de Campoo Festival did a few years ago). In addition, it could be published on the Film Academy’s website as it is awarded, so that it is known to the rest of the festival juries, to avoid awarding the same short film more than once.
In addition, this proposal could guarantee the eligibility of more documentary and animation short films, although the best option would be to remove the festival filter in these cases.
#2 The ICAA eligibility licence
One of last year’s most controversial changes was the requirement to have the eligibility licence issued by the ICAA before the festival takes place. This measure was intended to encourage registration with the ICAA. But, unfortunately, it has had the opposite effect: many short films could not be submitted and therefore have stopped registering. In addition, it can exclude short films that have won awards at festivals and that, despite having their eligibility licence, were unable to obtain it days before the festival took place.
The solution is clear: remove this measure. Keep the requirement to have an eligibility licence, but not before the qualifying festivals take place. This year it has become clear that keeping it would harm short films and prevents many works that deserve it from being submitted.
#3 The Film Academy committee
The process to reach the nominations involves eligibility at festivals and the assessment of a committee chosen by the Academy itself from among its members. The members of this committee are kept secret. The problem is that this committee’s selection of short films had several issues last year, and the Academy was forced to issue a correction shortly afterwards.
The solution to this problem would be to remove the existence of this committee, and have all eligible short films go to the members’ vote. If this measure is not possible, then at least the process should be more transparent and the committee members should be known, as the French Academy does, which publishes, in addition to the name, the position and the email address of each member of the short film committee.
#4 The certificate of participation in festivals
The Academy requires a certificate of participation in festivals, without which it does not validate that participation. The problem is that festivals often do not send this certificate or send only an email, which the Academy does not consider valid.
The solution is very simple: the Academy should accept an email as a valid certificate of participation, and even a link to the festival website where the short film selection appears, in line with what the Hollywood Academy does to verify festival participation for short films from film schools.
#5 Becoming an Academy member
The rules for the Goya Awards in 2007 caused a lot of controversy, as they sought to leave short films out of the gala. That year, a movement of outrage arose across the sector, which helped to reverse this measure. This movement led, shortly afterwards, to the creation of the Coordinadora del Cortometraje.
The return of short films to the Goya Awards gala was a success, but there was another measure that was taken that same year and remains to this day. Until 2007, Goya Award winners became Academy members like the rest of the award recipients, but from that year onwards this option was removed for short films. This means that everyone awarded by the Academy is appointed an Academy member, except short film directors and producers.
The result, ten years later, is that there are fewer and fewer young people and new filmmakers in the Academy. It is important to treat all awards equally and establish mechanisms so that the Academy can renew itself. There have been some rather surreal situations in recent years that should make us think, such as Esteban Crespo, director of That Wasn’t Me, and Juanjo Gimenez, director of Timecode, being members of the Hollywood Academy thanks to the nomination they achieved for their short films, but not being Academy members in their own country, despite having a Goya.
I believe it is urgent to solve this problem, and to do so retroactively, so that at least all Goya winners from these ten years become Academy members (if it can be extended to all nominees, even better).
What do you think of these proposals?
I hope they help to better define the future rules for the 2018 Goya Awards. I would love to hear your opinion on them and whether you have other ideas. You can leave comments on this page.