This very morning the nominations for the 2018 Goya Awards were announced. The five short films nominated for the Goya Awards for Best Fiction Short Film were Australia, by Lino Escalera, Baraka, by Néstor Ruiz Medina, Como yo te amo, by Fernando García-Ruiz, Extraños en la carretera, by Carlos Solano and Madre, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
I am very pleased as we are distributing Australia and Madre, and also Primavera Rosa en México, by Mario de la Torre, nominated for Best Documentary Short Film.
If we analyze it carefully, in recent years the importance and impact of the Goya Awards for Best Fiction Short Film has changed significantly and unfortunately has lost much of the value it had years ago.
It has gone from being a guarantee for making a feature film debut, to a mere recognition, which does not even make you an academy member, and it seems it does not help much in getting producers to call you to start working on your first film.
If we observe the history of the Goya Awards in this category, and analyze the last three decades we discover a change in trend, which should make us think.
It begins in the nineties, where all the directors who won for a short film managed to shoot their first feature, and continues to the present day, where it is increasingly difficult.
There are three milestones that mark this evolution and which curiously coincide with the beginning of each decade, these are the Goyas won by these three short films:
- 1990 – El reino de Víctor, by Juanma Bajo Ulloa.
- 2000 – Siete cafés por semana, by Juana Macías.
- 2010 – Di me que yo, by Mateo Gil.
In this post I analyze the Goyas won by each director, and their subsequent evolution toward the realization of their respective feature film debuts. It is structured by decades: the nineties, the 2000s and the current decade.
The Nineties (1990-1999)
Let us begin with the nineties, one of the best decades Spanish cinema has produced. It is also the decade when short film production began to improve, and where the foundations were laid for the high quality in production we have had in recent years.
The beginning of the decade is marked by the Goya Award for short film in 1990 to El reino de Victor, by Juanma Bajo Ulloa.
Below, I list the directors who won a Goya Award for Best Fiction Short Film, and the years they needed to shoot their feature film debut:
- Juanma Bajo Ulloa, El reino de Victor (1990), 2 years later wins the Goya for his feature film debut, Alas de mariposa (1992).
- Alvaro Fernandez Armero, El columpio (1993), 2 years later is nominated for Todo es mentira (1995).
- Santiago Segura, Perturbado (1994), 5 years later wins the Goya for best feature film debut with Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (1999).
- Javier Fesser, Aquel ritmillo (1995), 4 years later is nominated for El milagro de P. Tinto (1999).
- Miguel Bardem, La madre (1996), 4 years later nominated for La mujer más fea del mundo (2000).
- Achero Mañas, Cazadores (1998), 3 years later wins the Goya for El bola (2001).
In total there are 6 directors who, after winning the Goya for short film, return with their feature film debut a few years later.
The rest of the directors who won a Goya for a Fiction Short Film in these years, also managed to shoot their feature film debut with an average of 4 years, although they were no longer nominated:
- Gracia Querejeta, won the Goya for Best Short Film for El viaje del agua (1991), 4 years later directs Una estación de paso (1995), which is not nominated for best feature film debut.
- Jesus R. Delgado, La viuda negra (1992), 4 years later directs La vida de tus sueños (1996).
- Roberto Lázaro, La viga (1997), 4 years later directs La leyenda de fuego (2001).
- Jacopo Rispa, Un día perfecto (1999), 4 years later directs No debes estar ahí (2003)
This trend, which begins in 1990, whereby if a director won a Goya with a short film they made their feature film debut in a few years, changes abruptly with the turn of the century.
The 2000s (2000-2009)
In 2000 Juana Macías wins the Goya Award for Best Fiction Short Film for Siete cafés por semana. Juana took 11 years to make her first film as director, Planes para mañana, which was nominated in 2011 for Best Feature Film Debut.
These are the directors who won a Goya for best short film during this decade:
- Juana Macias, Siete cafés por semana (2000), 11 years later is nominated for Planes para mañana (2011).
- Ana Martínez, Pantalones (2001), has not yet shot a fiction feature film, only documentary features for TVE.
- Gustavo Salmerón, Desaliñada (2002), does not direct La matanza, his first documentary feature, until 2011. This year 2017, he premiered his second documentary feature, Muchos hijos, un mono y un castillo, nominated for the 2018 Goya Awards. He has not yet shot his first fiction feature film.
- Rafa Russo, Nada que perder (2003), after 4 years directs his feature film debut, Amor en defensa propia, which is not nominated for the Goya.
- Daniel Guzmán, Sueños (2004), 12 years later wins the Goya Award for his feature film debut, A cambio de nada (2016).
- Alberto Ruiz Rojo, Diez minutos (2005), has not yet made his feature film debut.
- José Javier Rodríguez Melcón, Nana (2006), has not yet made his feature film debut.
- Salvador Gómez Cuenca, A ciegas (2007), has not yet made his feature film debut.
- Abdelatif Hwidar, Salvador (Historia de un milagro cotidiano) (2008), 4 years later makes his first documentary feature, Kanimambo, together with Carla Subirana and Adán Aliaga. He has not yet made his fiction feature film debut.
- Isabel de Ocampo, Miente (2009), 4 years later is nominated for Best Feature Film Debut for Evelyn (2013).
In this decade the change after Siete cafés por semana is radical, of the 10 directors who won a Goya Award for Best Fiction Short Film, only Rafa Russo and Isabel de Ocampo shoot their feature film debut within 4 years, and only Isabel was nominated for it.
Daniel Guzmán is the only one in this decade who wins a Goya with his feature film debut, after having won it with a short film. This is an exception, when a few years earlier it was the norm. Daniel needs no less than 12 years to achieve it.
Half of the directors awarded a Goya in this decade have not yet made their first fiction feature film.
In these years there are nominated directors who manage to make their feature film debut. Among them we find Borja Cobeaga, who in 2002 is nominated for La primera vez, and in 2007 is nominated for the Oscar for Eramos pocos, which did not receive a Goya nomination. His feature film debut, Pagafantas is nominated for the Goyas in 2010, 8 years later.
We must also mention the case of Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, who in 2004 is nominated for Express, subsequently makes two more short films, Física II and La culpa del alpinista. In 2007 he receives a nomination for his feature film debut, Azuloscurocasinegro, just 3 years after the nomination for Best Fiction Short Film.
Current Decade (2010-2018)
In 2010 Mateo Gil wins the Goya Award for Best Fiction Short Film for Di me que yo (which we also distribute within the Madrid en corto program). This short film is made 10 years after Nadie conoce a Nadie, which is nominated for Best Feature Film Debut in 2000.
It is the first time that the Goyas reverse the trend, and award a short film after its director has made his feature film debut.
These are the directors who win a Goya with their fiction short film:
- Mateo Gil, Di me que yo (2010), 10 years earlier is nominated for Nadie conoce a Nadie (2000).
- Maria Reyes, Una caja de botones (2011), has not yet made her feature film debut.
- Fernando Trullols, El barco pirata (2012), has not yet made his feature film debut.
- Esteban Crespo, Aquel no era yo (2013) (he was already nominated in 2009 with Lala), 5 years later directs his feature film debut Amar (2017).
- Gaizka Urresti, Abstenerse agencias (2014), makes his feature film debut, Bendita Calamidad in 2015, one year after his nomination.
- Patricia Font, Café para llevar (2015), is now shooting her feature film debut, which is scheduled for release in 2018, so she will be eligible for the 2019 Goya Awards, 5 years later.
- José Luis Montesinos, El corredor (2016), has not yet shot his feature film debut (although it is in pre-production).
- Juanjo Giménez, Timecode (2017). Directs his first short film in 1995, Especial (con luz) and in 2010 directs his first documentary feature Esquivar y pegar, 6 years earlier.
In this decade only Esteban Crespo and Gaizka Urresti have managed to shoot their feature film debut. In Esteban’s case he needed an Oscar nomination and Gaizka has an important career as a short film director. Patricia Font will have hers next year, and Juanjo Gimenez and Mateo Gil had already made theirs previously. There are three directors who have not managed to make their feature film debut in this decade.
What Has Happened in the New Century?
After this analysis I have more questions than answers and I believe it invites reflection What has happened in Spanish cinema, and in the Goya Awards, for what previously seemed to be a norm to have become an exception?
What happened between the late 90s and early 2000s for such an abrupt change?
Why does winning a Goya seem to no longer help you make your feature film debut?