'Arrugas', 'Doentes' and Matalobos' win the Maestro Mateo Awards

More than 900 people filled the Palexco in A Coruña for the presentation of the Maestro Mateo awards given by the Galician Audiovisual Academy. All the speeches called for the audiovisual sector not to be left aside and for a consensual public policy to be made.

The Maestro Mateo awards have been widely distributed this year, with almost the same number of awards being given to television, film, animation and documentary productions. The length of animation Wrinkles received five awards, the fiction feature Patients five others, the series wolf killer four, the long documentary Bring the Lights three and the tv movie Emilia Pardo Bazán, The Rebel Countess, three others.

The gala was full of protest speeches by the organizers, the winners and the script itself by Ángel de la Cruz, performed by María Castro. The more than 900 people who filled the Gaviota auditorium in Palexco in A Coruña laughed, applauded and, above all, celebrated the good creative health of Galician audiovisuals.

The actress María Castro was one of the most awarded of the night for carrying the weight of a large part of the gala, which she solved with complete monologues, musical numbers and a lot of humor for two and a half hours. Oliver Twist performed by more than 50 children, Pennies from heaven by María Castro, If I were rich by Luis Tosar or Acuarius from the musical Hair, also performed by the presenter, were the musical dishes of the night, which reviewed with an acidic but also optimistic look the most important crises of the last centuries, from the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century to the present, being clear that every past crisis was always worse.

One of the highlights was when the master of ceremonies approached the Minister of Culture, Jesús Vázquez, and sitting on the lap of the president of the Academy, Antonio Mourelos, she treated the politician to a pair of scissors in case he wanted to make some more cuts.

Main demands

Most of the winners agreed in asking public institutions to continue supporting their own production, since the audiovisual sector is a strategic sector that generates many jobs and a sense of country.

Antonio Mourelos, president of the Academy, highlighted in his speech that it was not easy to complete the ten years of existence of the institution, but he did not want to insist again on the talent, professionalism and creativity that the Galician audiovisual sector has, because "we are tired of going from office to office to say that we are an important sector that gives work to many people, whoever has to know it already knows it and if they do nothing it is because they do not want to or because they do not let them." Although Mourelos recognized that we also have to be self-critical to have increasingly higher quality productions and seek investment here and abroad. “Let's tell whoever it may concern that culture matters,” he concluded.

For her part, Dolores Ben, this year's Fernando Rey honoree, thanked the recognition saying that it is an incentive to continue working. “The audiovisual sector is a strategic sector, full of new and talented people, who are the future,” he stated. “A clear audiovisual policy must be made and agreed upon with the sector to be able to overcome the current situation,” he added in the same vein as many of the winners of this edition.

Master Mateo Awards Winners 2011

• Advertising work

Collection of curtains (TVG-Abano Producións S.L.)

• Female supporting performance

Camila Bossa (Wolfkiller)

• Male supporting performance

Antonio Mourelos (Wolfkiller)

• Animated short

The joker's club (Luís Usón e Usón Studio)

• short fiction

The Dark Ladies (Sonia Méndez and Oroboro Films)

• experimental work

Of love and stonework (Píxel Films and Manuel María Foundation)

• Makeup and hairdressing

Mara Collazo, Chicha Blanco (Emilia Pardo Bazán, A Rebel Condesa)

• costume design

María Gil (Emilia Pardo Bazán, The Rebel Countess)

• Artistic direction

Paco Roca (Wrinkles)
Alexandra Fernández (Patients)

• Mounting

Sandra Sánchez And Nahum C. Fiuza (Tralas Luces)

• Production management

Enrique Batet (Patients)

• photography direction

Suso Bello – A.E.C. (Patients)

• Best documentary

The silenced (Mr Misto Films S.L)

• television program

Daily Zigzag (TVG)

• Interactive work

Sand makes six (Galician Institute of Consumption (Igc), Editorial Galaxia, Ángeles Abelleira and Moonbite)

• Sound

Diego S. Staub, Carlos García, Miguel Barbosa (Wrinkles)

• Original music

Nani García (Wrinkles)

• long documentary

Tralas Luces (Tic Tac Productions in co-production with Lagarto Cine, Ukbar Filmes and TVG)

• Leading male performance

Antonio Durán “Morris” (Doentes)

• Leading female performance

Susana Dans (Emilia Pardo Bazán, The Rebel Countess)

• television communicator

Roberto Vilar (Land Rober)

• Script

Ángel De La Cruz, Ignacio Ferreras, Paco Roca, Rosanna Cechinni (Wrinkles)

• Achievement

Marta Piñeiro, Judas Diz (Matalobos)

• Address

Sandra Sánchez (Tralas Luces)

• tv movie

Eduardo Barreiros, Henry Ford Galego (Continental Producciones, Salero Films and TVG)

• Animated feature film

Arrugas (Perro Verde Films S.L., Cromosoma S.A. Elephant In The Black Box e TVG)

• television series

Matalobos (Voz Audiovisual S.A.U. and TVG)

• Fiction feature film

Patients (Filmanova Invest S.A.U., Zircozine, TVG and R)