The Australian actress, who receives the Goya de Honor this Saturday, has shown her fear for the future of movie theaters
Cate Blanchett is in Valencia to collect the International Goya, a new distinction that arises with the purpose of rewarding figures with worldwide repercussion. The Australian actress and producer appeared at the Palau de les Arts at 11:45 am accompanied by Mariano Barroso, president of the Film Academy. She has greeted with a “Good morning” in Spanish. «I want to thank Mariano Barroso and the Film Academy. I was speechless when I found out about the award », she assured.
“Each award is a surprise. When I finish a movie, I ask myself, now what? I don’t usually look back, because I am aware that how the public receives the work varies », she commented, while emphasizing that she comes from Australia, which has a« small but powerful audiovisual industry ». «Being in Valencia receiving a Goya award means a lot. It is reaching an audience and culture that I did not expect but that satisfies me enormously”, commented the actress, who has emphasized the social power of cinema.
Asked about the award she values the most, Blanchett has pulled a sense of humor: «My favorite award is the Goya, the one they are going to give me today». Next, the actress has highlighted that she does not know the paths by which she will circulate her career. What she does know is her immediate project. Cate Blanchett will be the protagonist of the next film by Pedro Almodóvar. This is the adaptation of the novel ‘Manual for cleaning ladies’, by Lucía Berlin. The director from La Mancha is nominated for best director for ‘Mothers Parallels’, a film that is up for another five statuettes at the 36th edition of the Goya Awards, which is being held this Saturday. “Spanish or Castilian cinema is a fundamental reference”, she commented this morning at the Palau de les Arts. And she has highlighted Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenábar. «Spanish cinema is a key element of universal cinema», and she has quoted the directors Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Quarón».
«Spanish cinema is a key element of universal cinema»
“I have known Pedro Almodóvar for 20 years. We have found a project that unites us both with ‘Manual for cleaning ladies’ and we are going to take advantage of these synergies». With the director from La Mancha, she has said that she shares the same “cinema culture” and is delighted to “enter Pedro’s own universe. Yesterday we started working and today I am in Valencia, they are two great days». For Blanchett now is the “right time” to work with the director of ‘Volver’. “He is an excellent screenwriter. He is an artist because all his films and his creations have a brutal influence on the script. It is a unique script, which he had never seen before. Almodóvar’s point of view makes us delve into different levels with Lucía Berlin’s stories about affective and other addictions », she explained.
“Monopolies are dangerous”
“Cinema was in danger before the pandemic,” he said in Valencia. Blanchett hoped that after the months of confinement, people would want to “meet in dark spaces when we could go out. I have not lost hope that the public has that desire. “I am aware that in 18 months we have been consuming cinema on platforms,” she added. “Monopolies are not a good idea, they are dangerous,” she clarified. But she has not ignored another reality: “Platforms have given opportunities to projects and artists, which are positive.” “It doesn’t matter what size the screen is if the idea is big,” she said. She then warned that we should not “become slaves to a serialized model, nor to a single model.”
The press room was filled with a hundred journalists. The press conference took place under the ceramic mural designed by Santiago Calatrava, known as the Los Toros room. The Australian has shown concern about the future of movie theaters.
“With the International Goya, the Spanish Film Academy shows that it has a very modern future.”
The actress, who now has ‘The Alley of Lost Souls’, by Guillermo del Toro, considers that the role of academies and festivals is now more important than ever, which do “more work apart from the awards and carpet. The academies advise the industry and help find funding and have an eye on the future. We find social and cultural movements, such as #Metoo or #BlackLivesMatters, to which it has to adapt. If an academy does not understand these concepts, it has just been insignificant. And she has joked again: «With the International Goya, the Spanish Film Academy shows that it has a very modern future».
With two Oscars – for best leading actress for ‘Blue Jasmine, by Woody Allen, and for best supporting actress for ‘The Aviator’, by Martin Scorsese, Blanchett has not taken a position on the controversy surrounding the director of ‘Manhattan’ and ‘Radio Days’. Instead, she has commented that she loves being asked about the movie ‘Carol’.
The actress in ‘Don’t look up’, by Adam McKay, which can be seen on Netflix, was one of the best kept secrets of the Goya Awards in Valencia. The Australian has considered that the entire industry «benefits from having diversity on both sides of the screen. I worked with my husband at the National Theater in Sydney for several years and I am passionate about producing. Producing goes beyond financing. “People think that we actors are puppets, but that’s not the case, because we have a huge interest in everything that happens in the film and we have a very active role. Producing is a passion that connects with my main interest, which is telling stories », she continued.