Spain's Goya Ceremony Slammed for

Overly Political Tone

Sunday night's awards saw industry reps attack a sales tax hike and
austerity measures.

MADRID - Two days after the Goya Awards ceremony that saw Pablo Berger's
Blancanieves walk away with the top honors, tongues are still wagging about the
televised gala that waxed political and suffered headline-worthy errors.

Everyone expected Javier Bardem -- well-known for his defense of the Saharawi people
-- to speak about human rights in the Sahara from the podium upon receiving the Goya
for Sons of the Clouds, his documentary about the issue.

And everyone expected the Spanish Academy president Enrique Gonzalez Macho to rail
against the sales-tax hike, which saw tax on theater admissions jump from 8 percent to
21 percent, in his annual address at the ceremony.

But the posters protesting government cutbacks, a 15-minute monolog from presenter
Eva Hache, that attacked a wide range of government austerity measures and alleged
corruption, and a clear push from the actors guild to speak out, set a highly political
tone.

Talk around the water-coolers of Spain about the Goyas had less to do with the quality
of films like Juan Antonio Bayona's The Impossible or Berger's Blancanieves than
with the fact that the Spanish movie industry feels compelled to publicly support left-
leaning political causes.

"Everyone's talking about all the barbs they launched from the stage, not the films,"
wrote Gonzalo de Miguel in Spanish daily El Pais. "They use the podium to speak out
against the issue of the day and then they complain that not enough effort is put into
promoting their films domestically. Even at their own big celebration they put more into
politics than in selling their own product."

Most of the critiques made during the ceremony came from the winners and were
directed at the Culture Minister Jose Ignacio Wert, taking aim at cuts in the culture
budget and the hike in taxes. But others were general complaints about austerity
measures that Spain is experiencing as it tries to rein in debt.

"I watched my father die in a public hospital that didn't have blankets to cover him and
water for him to drink," best supporting actress winner Candela Pena said as she
accepted her honor. "And I gave birth to a child for whom I'm concerned what kind of
public education will be on offer."

Wert, who was in attendance and was caught on camera only at the beginning of the
ceremony, smiling and sitting next to Gonzalez Macho, responded to reporters that he
accepted the political tone in good humor.
"In a democracy, you have to be open to all kinds of criticism, even if you don't feel it is
justified. If it is done respectfully, it doesn't make me uncomfortable," Wert said. "It
wasn't hard for me."

But the political tone wasn't the only thing to make waves in the Goya fall-out.

When Bayona received his award for best director, he jumped down from the stage to
hand it over to Maria Belon, the mother of the real-life family upon which The
Impossible is based. In doing so, he pulled his hamstring and ended up in the
emergency room.

It speaks to the underdog tone of the film industry that upon receiving his award,
Bayona -- whose film has broken box-office records -- felt compelled to defend himself
and the ability to make commercially viable movies in Spain. "It's good to make big
films. It doesn't mean you are arrogant. The Spanish industry needs big, medium and
small films," Bayona said before limping backstage.

Article taken from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

SPEAKING QUESTIONS:

1- What’s this article about? Do you think the topic is controversial nowadays? Why
/why not?
2- Do you agree with the statement: “Talk around the water-coolers of Spain about the
Goyas had less to do with the quality of films like Juan Antonio Bayona's The
Impossible or Berger's Blancanieves than with the fact that the Spanish movie industry
feels compelled to publicly support left-leaning political causes”? Why /why not?
3- Do you consider this kind of political controversy would be possible, for example,
at the Oscars Award Winning Ceremony? Why / why not?
4- In your opinion, are the artists entitled to show political or religious beliefs when
they are in public? Do you think they may have an influence on governments?
5- What’s your opinion about the article’s tone? Is it supportive or satirical with the
Spanish cinema industry? Why?
6- If you were an actor, would you behave in this way? Why /why not?

VOCABULARY

Match the following words with their synonyms

1. wagging a. group
2. waxed b. group of tendons in thigh
3. hike c. competitor
4. guild d. move one’s tail
5. water-coolers e. a sudden increase in sth
6. hamstring f. to stop sth
7. underdog g. gossip people
8. rein in h. increase