Starting signal for the VIII Gaudí Awards

The mayor of Barcelona receives the nominees for the VIII Gaudí Awards and the new Honorary Members of the Catalan Film Academy at the Albéniz Palace.

The mayor of Barcelona, ​​Ada Colau, together with the Commissioner for Culture, Berta Sureda, and the president of the Academy of Catalan Cinema, Isona Passola, received this Wednesday the nominees for the 2016 Gaudí Awards and the new Honorary members of the institution in an event held at the Albéniz Palace.

Colau congratulated the nominees and the new honorary members and assured that “culture is a common good and a fundamental right, since we cannot live without it”, highlighting that cinema is “a sector and an industry that helps Barcelona's international renown”.

Ada Colau has also expressed surprise at the few women filmmakers nominated. There are magnificent women nominated for Best Actress, Costumes and Makeup, but none for Direction, Screenplay or Photography, so in her opinion changing this situation should be a challenge.

The Academy has named as Honorary Members the exhibitor Narcís Agustí, the actress Asunción Balaguer, the film critic Jaume Figueras, the founder of the magazine Frames Elisenda Nadal and the photographer and film director Leopoldo Pomés.