Santa Cruz de Tenerife 31 Jan (Europa Press) –
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, convened several filmmakers from the islands on Friday to commend them for their nominations for the Goya 2025 awards, a recognition he deemed “very significant” irrespective of the outcome at the ceremony scheduled for 8 February.
Clavijo highlighted that the nominations secured by Canarian projects affirm the remarkable “abundance of talent” present in the Canary Islands. He particularly noted the “thriving moment” that animation cinema is currently experiencing in the archipelago, as evidenced by three Goya nominations.
The gathering included representatives from the three animation productions nominated for Spain’s most prestigious film awards.
Among those present was David Baute, director of ‘Black butterflies’; and Darío Sánchez from Estudio 3 Double Producciones, a company behind ‘Superklaus’, both nominated for best animated feature.
Damián Perea from Damián Perea Producciones was also in attendance, having contributed to ‘Cafuné’, a nominee for best animated short. Unfortunately, Valeria Castro, nominated for best original song, could not be present at the meeting.
The head of the Autonomous Executive remarked that the nominations featuring a Canarian accent at the ‘Goya Awards’ not only validate the talent and exceptional work being produced by the island’s audiovisual sector but also illustrate the outcome of the “intensive efforts” made by the Government since 2019, which has involved consistent support for the audiovisual industry through annual initiatives aimed at developing and producing films and series within the islands.
“Canarian cinema brings us great joy,” he stated, noting that it is becoming increasingly common to find these films in the cinemas of the archipelago and throughout the rest of Spain.
Clavijo further mentioned that the Canary Islands “harbour tremendous talent,” but now, “additionally, there are conditions in place to retain this talent on the islands, with the presence of an industry and stable institutional backing.”
The president conveyed his congratulations to the nominees for the ‘Goya Awards’ and expressed gratitude for their role in providing “motivation and encouragement” for the entire audiovisual sector of the Canary Islands.
The meeting, held at the Government Headquarters of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, also saw the participation of the Vice Minister of the Presidency Cabinet, Octavio Caraballo, the General Director of Cultural Innovation and Creative Industries, Cristóbal de la Rosa, and the Canary Islands Film coordinator, Natacha Mora, all representatives from government departments implementing policies to develop Canarian cinema.