Isabel Coixet was one of the big winners at this weekend’s Goya Awards, Spain’s counterpart to the Oscars. Per Screen Daily, Coixet took home prizes for best feature, best director, and best adapted screenplay for her latest film, “The Bookshop.” The Emily Mortimer-starrer centers on a woman in 1950s England who raises eyebrows when she decides to open a bookstore.
Prior to the Goyas Coixet wrote about #MeToo for El Pais. Recounting her myriad experiences with industry sexism, she noted that no one questions male directors for making masculine films. “Whereas female directors have to defend and justify both actively and passively the right to tell stories about people who make their own beds, which for me is the real test of whether the director of a film is male or female, because in films written and directed by men, as in real life, none of the characters think to do it,” she observed.
The “Learning to Drive” director also called for women to protest gender inequality by wearing pajamas to the Goyas: “To go in pajamas and slippers with no make-up — it seems to me to be a lot more fun than putting on a black dress worth €10,000 from Dolce & Gabbana.” Alas, it was an idea that didn’t gain much traction. “Apart from three other nuts like me, I couldn’t convince anyone,” Coixet revealed. “So the Goya audience will miss the chance this year of seeing me in my Hello Kitty pajamas and unicorn slippers.”
Even so, #MeToo’s presence was felt at the ceremony: audience members brought red fans that read #MasMujeres (more women).
Coixet wasn’t the only female filmmaker to receive a Goya this year. Carla Simón was named best new director for “Summer 1993,” a drama about a young girl who loses her mother. Laura Ferrés’ “Los Desheredados” was named best documentary short. The doc is a portrait of Ferrés’ father as he copes with the demise of his business.
Coixet previously won Goya Awards for writing (“My Life Without Me,” “The Secret Life of Words”), directing (“The Secret Life of Words”), and best documentary (“Escuchando al juez Garzón”).
“The Bookshop” was released in Spain last November. No word on a North American release yet. Coixet’s upcoming projects include “Light on Broken Glass,” a musical about a veteran Broadway actress, and “Elisa y Marcela,” a narrative about Spain’s first same-sex marriage.
All of the female Goya winners are below. List adapted from Screen Daily.
- Best Film: The Bookshop (Isabel Coixet)
- Best Director: Isabel Coixet (The Bookshop)
- Best New Director: Carla Simón (Summer 1993)
- Best Adapted Script: Isabel Coixet (The Bookshop)
- Best Actress: Nathalie Poza (No Sé Decir Adiós)
- Best Supporting Actress: Adelfa Calvo (The Author)
- Best New Actress: Bruna Cusí (Summer 1993)
- Best Hair And Make-up: Ainhoa Eskisabel, Olga Cruz, Gorka Aquirre (Handia)
- Best Wardrobe: Saioa Lara (Handia)
- Best Documentary Short: Los Desheredados (Laura Ferrés)
- Honorary Goya: Marisa Paredes
