Bayona’s “A Monster Calls” Wins Big at Spain’s Goya Awards

J.A. Bayona is celebrating a monster night…

The 41-year-old Spanish filmmaker took home the Best Director prize at the Spanish Film Academy’s Goya Awards ceremony over the weekend, while his film A Monster Calls proved to be the night’s big winner with nine awards.

J.A. Bayona

Bayona’s tale of a boy who faces his mother’s illness with the help of a monster had received 12 nominations.

Bayona, won the Best New Director award in 2008 for his name-making film The Orphanage, celebrated each award for A Monster Calls as if it were his first successful film, instead of the third in a highly acclaimed trilogy centering on the mother-child relationship. He dedicated his award to all who suffer from cancer and to his father, who taught him the transformative power of culture.

Meanwhile, Raul Arevalo’s directorial debut Fury of a Patient Man took the top award, Best Picture, while the 37-year-old Spanish filmmaker won the best new director and best original screenplay prizes.

Pedro Almodovar was on hand to celebrate his lead actress Emma Suarez’s special night, as she walked away with two Goya statuettes for her roles in his films Julieta and La Proxima Piel. But Almodovar, who will be the first Spaniard to chair the Cannes Film Festival jury in May, didn’t win in any of the six other categories in which his film competed.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Film
Fury of a Patient Man

Director
J.A. Bayona for A Monster Calls

New Director
Raul Arevalo for Fury of a Patient Man

Original Screenplay
David Pulido, Raul Arevalo for Fury of a Patient Man

Adapted Screenplay
Alberto Rodriguez, Rafael Cobos for Smoke and Mirrors

Original Score
Fernando Velazquez for A Monster Calls

Original Song
“Ai, Ai, Ai” by Silvia Perez Cruz for Cerca de tu Casa

Lead Actor
Roberto Alamo for May God Save Us

Lead Actress
Emma Suarez for Julieta

Supporting Actor
Manolo Solo for Fury of a Patient Man

Supporting Actress
Emma Suarez for La proxima piel

New Actor
Carlos Santos for Smoke and Mirrors

New Actress
Anna Castillo for El Olivo

Production Design
Sandra Hermida Muniz for A Monster Calls

Photography
Oscar Faura for A Monster Calls

Editing
Bernat Vilplana, Jaume Marti for A Monster Calls

Artistic Director
Eugenio Caballero for A Monster Calls

Wardrobe
Paola Torres for 1898. The End of the Philippines

Makeup and Hair
David Marti, Marese Langan for A Monster Calls

Sound
Marc Orts, Oriol Tarrago, Peter Glossop for A Monster Calls

Special Effects
Felix Berges, Pau Costa for A Monster Calls

Animated Feature
Psiconautas, los ninos olivdados

Documentary Feature
Fragil Equilibrio

Ibero-American Film
El Ciudadano Ilustre by Gaston Duprat, Mariano Cohn

European Film
Elle by Paul Verhoeven

Fiction Short
Timecode by Juanjo Giemenz Pena

Documentary Short
Cabezas Habladoras by Juan Vicente Cordoba

Animated Short
Decorado by Alberto Vazquez

Honorary Goya
Ana Belen

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