The Golden Globe Awards were recently held in the United States, and on February 9, the Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be held in Los Angeles. Also in February, the British Academy Film Awards ( BAFTA) and the French César Awards will be presented.
Spain is no exception to this “awards season”: in mid-January, the José Mª Forqué Awards—organized by EGEDA —were held, marking their 25th edition this year. These are followed by the Feroz Awards and, of course, the Goya Awards, presented by the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will take place on January 25.
Faced with this “avalanche” of awards, it’s inevitable to wonder about their significance. The reality, at the end of the day, is that there is no such thing as “awards season,” and the activity—including awards, festivals, galas, and markets—lasts practically the entire year across the industry’s various facets and specialties.
This concentration of awards in the first few months of the year is due, above all, to the fact that these events serve as promotional tools for various films that are about to be released or have recently been released. In a world full of distractions, this helps capture or draw viewers’ attention. In some cases, receiving a nomination or a major award can even give a film a “second commercial life” (or, for smaller projects that had come and gone from theaters without much fanfare, simply a new lease on life).
This issue is so significant as part of the economic process related to the production, promotion, and exploitation of an audiovisual project that the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), which reports to the Ministry of Culture and several autonomous communities, offers specific grant programsto support both festival attendees and organizers.
It is also common for these events—and especially film festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, San Sebastián)—to be accompanied by parallel activities aimed at industry development, such as conventions, conferences, or workshops. These events typically feature hectic schedules of meetings aimed at securing sales, seeking funding, participating in discussions on future legislation, attending industry association meetings and assemblies, conducting interviews with officials, or simply taking the opportunity to build collaborative networks that may lead to future projects.
Thus, despite the aura of glamour inherent in any film award or competition, we must be aware that, behind that aura—and beyond the excitement of receiving a statuette— lies a thriving industry that, in Spain, generated more than 500 million euros in ticket sales last year.
Author: Mabel Klimt