Spanish actors and actresses sing “no to war” at the 34th edition of the Union Awards: “More love and peace”

Spanish actors and actresses have chanted “no to war” this Monday during the Union Awards gala in which they have asked for “more love” and to walk “towards peace, while at the same time they have demanded “more opportunities” for older people or performers with disabilities.

The Union of Actors and Actresses celebrated its 34th edition at the Teatro Circo Price, with ‘Los Domingos’ as the great winner of the night in the film industry with three awards, while ‘Poquita Fe’ and ‘Anatomía de un Instante’ have received two awards in the television industry.

Among the authorities who attended, the Secretary of State for Culture, Jordi Martí, the general director of the INAEM, Paz Santa Cecilia, the president of the Film Academy, Fernando Méndez-Leite, and the president of the Academy of Performing Arts, Magüi Mira, stood out.

The gala began with the speech of the general secretary of the Union of Actors and Actresses, Silvia de Pé, who framed this year’s edition in “the most absolute uncertainty”, citing the war in Iran and Ukraine, the genocide in Palestine, the violation of human rights in the streets of the United States and the situation of women in Afghanistan or the housing situation in Spain.

“While all this is happening, censorship, self-censorship and the shadow of regression in each new electoral process grows. Faced with this, our profession has a special social duty,” he stated.

Silvia de Pé, who faces her last gala as general secretary, has assured that it has been an “honor and pride” to be at the head of the entity that has achieved recognition of “intermittence, unemployment benefits for artists, the compatibility of retirement and artistic work or taxation. “We are about to have the Artist Statute updated after 40 years,” she highlighted.

‘LOS SUNDAYS’ TRIUMPHS WITH ITS ACTRESSES

Among the most awarded titles are ‘Los Domingos’, which has achieved three of a total of six nominations. Patricia López Arnaiz has won the Best Actress Award for ‘Los Domingos’, while José Ramón Soroiz has won the Best Actor Award for ‘Maspalomas’. Both actors did not attend the gala.

Nagore Aramburu – who did not attend the gala – and Álvaro Cervantes have also been recognized as Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor for ‘Los Domingos’ and ‘Sorda’, a film that with Miriam Garlo has won the award for Best New Actress.

The actress has intoned “no to war” and “no to femicides.” “Aging has become a luxury, no to war and no to femicides,” he noted.

In the male category, Julio Peña has won the Best New Actor Award for ‘El Cautivo’ and has also asked to “make more love and not war.” Likewise, Víctor Sainz and Elvira Mínguez – who did not attend the gala – have been awarded Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress for ‘Los Domingos’ and ‘La Cena’.

‘POQUITA FAITH’ AND ‘ANATOMY OF AN INSTANT’ REIGN ON TELEVISION

On television, ‘Anatomía de un Instante’ has won two awards out of the four for which it was nominated (Best Leading Actor for Álvaro Morte and David Lorente as Best Supporting Actor), while ‘Poquita Fe’ has won the two actor categories for which Felipe Andrés (Best Supporting Actor) and María Jesús Hoyos (Best Supporting Actress) were nominated.

Ingrid García-Jonsson – who did not attend the ceremony – has been recognized as Best Leading Actress for ‘Superestar’. For his part, David Lorente has won the award for Best Supporting Actor for ‘Anatomía de un Instante’ and María Jesús Hoyos for Best Supporting Actress for ‘Poquita Fe’. The interpreter has asked for more roles for the actors of the “third life cycle.” “We are very effective because we have a lot of life experience,” he stressed.

“This character forces me to ask the political class to lower their tone, to stop throwing insults at each other. Politics is the art of understanding each other. Enough is enough,” commented David Lorente when he collected his award.

Felipe Andrés has received the Best Supporting Actor for ‘Poquita Fe’ and Natalia Huarte has won the award for Best Supporting Actress for the series ‘Ena, queen Victoria Eugenia’.

“When I was making the series I thought about how important memory and remembering are. Those echoes now resound like bombs, we hear them and what a contradiction to be here receiving this award so gratefully and at the same time feeling this fear in the body. Please let’s walk towards a world with more peace. No to war,” Huarte proclaimed.

THEATER

In theater, Daniel Albaladejo has received the Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance in ‘La Señorita de Trevélez’, while for Best Leading Actress Irene Escolar has been awarded for ‘People, Places and Things’.

The award for Best Supporting Actor went to Víctor Clavijo for ‘Blaubeeren’, who has asked to be “vigilant” because he has warned that “very dark times are coming”, and Ania Hernández, Best Supporting Actress, for ‘Numancia’; Mina El Hammani has received the award for Best Supporting Actress; Cristóbal Suárez, Best Supporting Actor, for ‘Music for Hitler’.

PILAR BARDEM AWARD FOR PEDRO ALMODÓVAR

The Women in Unión Pilar Bardem Award went to Pedro Almodóvar, who recalled that, as a child, when he did not yet know that cinema would be the center of his life, he fantasized about belonging to the world of stars that he collected in a sticker album, an object that he has defined as “sacred.”

“That child, a little strange, who grew up in La Mancha, did so in a very bad time for all of Spain. I came to Madrid at the age of 18 to study at a film school that Franco closed because they believed it was a nest of reds,” he recalled.

The filmmaker has dedicated the award to all those who contributed money to make ‘Pepi, Luci, Bom and other girls of the bunch’ and has confessed that at that time he was a director “full of limitations” and that only his vocation was greater than hers. He has defined actors as “the soul” of his work. “You are very brave. I have tried to be cautious because it is easy to hurt you, I am aware of the fragility of this work. I hope I have not hurt anyone over these 30 years and if so I apologize. I have done the best I could,” he said.

Likewise, the Special Union Prize went to the film ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’. Meanwhile, Antonio Resines has collected the Lifetime Achievement Award. “This is outrageous, I hope this award doesn’t cut my wings because I intend to become rich and famous,” he joked.

JAVIER BARDEM’S “COURAGE” AT THE OSCARS

Before the gala, Carlos Bardem walked the red carpet and claimed the “courage” that his brother Javier had at the Oscars by wearing the message ‘No to war’ on the lapel of his jacket.

“We need people with courage like him and we must say the obvious ‘No to war’. There is nothing that justifies a war. I applaud my brother a lot because the value of gestures must be measured by the place where they are made. My brother risks a lot professionally by doing what he did yesterday. It is impressive,” he stated.

Carlos Bardem regretted that “not a single American” mentioned the war or the ICE situation during the ceremony and said that many colleagues agree with his brother, but “in private.” “It’s a shame that they don’t dare to say things,” he added. “It is very important that we all say ‘no to war’,” he stressed.

Finally, Alberto Ammann, winner of Best Actor in an International Production for ‘Trapped’, has also admired Bardem’s “courage” and has acknowledged that he was “embarrassed” to see the Oscars because they did not have the “courage” to raise their voices. For Best Actress in an International Production, Carla Díaz for ‘Delicious’.