On Saturday, Zaragoza was the host city for the ceremony for the 23rd José María Forqué Awards, handed out by EGEDA, a society grouping together Spanish audiovisual producers. This year, for the first time ever, the top prize, the Award for Best Film of 2017, was split between two titles that address the topic of literature, despite the fact that they have differing temporal settings, intentions and perspectives. The movies in question were The Bookshop, an English-language co-production between Spain, Germany and the UK, helmed by the unstoppable Isabel Coixet, and The Motive, a Spanish-Mexican co-production directed by Manuel Martín Cuenca. Both movies will soon be duking it out for the Goya Award for Best Fiction Feature of 2017, their most serious rival being Giant by Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi.

In the acting categories, two fine thesps came up on stage to pick up their trophies: Nathalie Poza (trouncing Maribel Verdú and Marian Álvarez, among others), who was superb in Can’t Say Goodbye, and Javier Gutiérrez (winning out over Juan Diego, David Verdaguer and Andrés Gertrudix), who was utterly committed to his role in The Motive.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2018 José María Forqué Awards:

Best Fiction or Animated Feature 
The Bookshop – Isabel Coixet (Spain/UK/Germany)
The Motive – Manuel Martín Cuenca (Spain/Mexico)

Best Actress 
Nathalie Poza – Can’t Say Goodbye

Best Actor 
Javier Gutiérrez – The Motive

Best Documentary Feature 
Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle – Gustavo Salmerón 

Best Short Film 
Mother – Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Best Latin American Feature
A Fantastic Woman – Sebastián Lelio (Chile/Germany/USA/Spain)

Film and Values-based Education Award 
The Healer – Paco Arango 

EGEDA Gold Medal
Carlos Saura

By Cineuropa