Spanish film industry continues its Oscars drought

ONLY one Spanish entry managed to make it to the final shortlist for the 2017 Academy Awards, continuing the country’s nine-year Oscar drought.

‘Timecode’, directed by Juanjo Gimenez, lost out to Kristof Deak’s ‘Sing (Mindenki)’ in the best short film category.

Gimenez said the Spanish Institute for Cinematography and Audio-visual Arts helped fund the production of the film but not the Oscars campaign, unlike nominations from other countries, which all received government funding.

Spain hasn’t won a single award since 2008, when Javier Bardem bagged the Best Supporting Actor gong for his role as psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brothers’ film ‘No Country for Old Men’.

‘La La Land’ swept the 2017 Oscars, winning six awards including best actress for Emma Stone and best director for Damien Chazelle, making him the youngest director to win the prestigious prize.

‘Moonlight’ won three awards, including a shock win for best picture after La La Land was incorrectly announced as the winner.

PriceWaterhouseCooper, the firm responsible for counting the ballots, apologised for the mix-up.

Casey Affleck won best actor for ‘Manchester by the Sea’, while Viola Davis was named best supporting actress for ‘Fences’.