Academics choose ‘Second Prize’ to represent Spain in international Oscar race
Source: www.audiovisual451.com
The Academy of Cinema has chosen the film ‘Second Prize’, directed by Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez, as the Spanish representative in the 97th edition of the Oscar Awards, in the race to be nominated in the international film category.
The Cantabrian actor Eduardo Noriega, accompanied by the president of the Academy Fernando Méndez-Leite and the notary Eva Fernández Medina announced the decision of the academicians in a ceremony that took place at the headquarters of the Film Academy. Second Prize’ has finally won over ‘La estrella azul’, by Javier Macipe and ‘Marco’, by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño.
“We have no idea what we are going to do, we are now stepping on unknown ground, we are only going to enjoy and learn the way”, confessed the producer (also from Cantabria) Cristóbal García from La Terraza Films, after hearing the news of the selection.
Now we will have to wait until December 17, 2024, when the Oscar shortlist will be unveiled, to find out if ‘Second Prize’ goes ahead. And, if so, one month later, on January 17, 2025, the five films nominated in this category of best international film will be announced. Finally, the 97th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2025.
Winner of the Golden Biznaga for Best Spanish Film at the last Malaga Film Festival, ‘Second Prize’ has already been screened at some fifteen festivals and is awaiting further selection in the latter part of this year. In addition to Spain, the film is scheduled for theatrical release in France in the first quarter of 2025, and those responsible for the film are now resuming talks to try to get it commercially released in the United States. Distributor BTeam Pictures released the film in Spanish theaters on May 24 and its cumulative gross since then is only 327,043 euros, with a total of 56,216 tickets sold.
The film by Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez, is set in the city of Granada in the nineties, in the genesis of the legend surrounding the music band Los Planetas. “We never conceived ‘Second Prize’ as a local film, we think it is a universal story. Federico García Lorca also came out of Granada and is a universal poet,” explained the producer to defend the chances of the feature film in the Oscar race. In this sense, co-director Isaki Lacuesta commented that in Spain we are often ‘complexed’: “It seems that a film about a Houston band has to be universal, but not about a Spanish band”.
The film is specifically based on the story of the recording of the album “A week in the bus engine” by the mythical band from Granada. ‘Segundo premio’ is produced by La Terraza Films, Aralan Films, Ikiru Film, BTeam Prods, Tóxicosmos AIE, Sideral Films and the French production company Capricci Films. It also has the participation of RTVE, Canal Sur and Movistar Plus+, the support of the Junta de Andalucía, the Comunidad de Madrid and the Ayuntamiento de Madrid and the financing of the ICAA.
In the ICAA’s general grants for 2021, the film received one million euros, then with a declared budget of around three million euros, although later, for various reasons, it would exceed four million, as producer Cristóbal García told Audiovisual451, shortly before the film’s premiere at the last Malaga Festival.
The screenplay has been written by Lacuesta himself together with Fernando Navarro (‘Verónica’) and the stunning cinematography is by Takuro Takeuchi, who already collaborated with Lacuesta in his previous film: ‘Un año, una noche’.
The cast of ‘Segundo premio’ is made up of Daniel Ibáñez (‘El buen patrón’) who plays “El cantante”; Fran Ocete, guitarist, singer and composer (‘Polvorosa’) plays the guitarist and Chesco Ruiz, also a musician (‘Dolorosa’) plays the bass player. On drums, Mafo, Mario Fernández, who has collaborated with the Planetas themselves, with “Lagartija Nick”, “Señor Chinarro” or “Soleá Morente”, and playing Maite, Stephanie Magnin (‘Advantages of traveling by train’). The main characters of the film had to demonstrate their skills as musicians, because the musical sequences have been performed live on the film set.
“For me it is the dream of my life, I realized that I had set up La Terraza Films to make this film. I’m telling you the truth. We didn’t think about it, we went to Granada to see Jota and Florent, who are the founders and leaders of the band, without having absolutely nothing… We had no script, no director, nothing at all, but we told them if we wanted to make a film about Los Planetas, about the period of the band that goes between 96 and 98, which is when they release the album “Una semana en el motor de un autobús”, in my opinion the most important in the history of independent music in Spain”, assured the producer to Audiovisual451 a few months ago.
