Aragón will host the Forqué 2018 Awards

On Saturday, January 13, the most prominent figures of Spanish cinematography will meet at the Zaragoza Conference Center for the 23rd edition of the awards.

The 23rd edition of the José María Forqué Awards, which mark the beginning of the awards season for Spanish cinema, will take place on January 13 in the Aragonese capital. With this initiative, EGEDA, as organizer of the awards, aims to give special prominence to Aragón, land of cinema and birthplace of great masters such as Luis Buñuel, Segundo de Chomón, Florián Rey, Carlos Saura, José Luis Borau or Paco Martínez Soria and José María Forqué himself; and more specifically in Zaragoza, the setting of the film that inaugurates the history of our cinema: Departure of midnight mass from the Pilar of Zaragoza (1896, Eduardo Jimeno Correas).

This was announced by Mª Teresa Pérez Esteban, Minister of Education, Culture and Sports of the Government of Aragon and Rafael Sánchez Jiménez, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations of EGEDA.

Councilor Mayte Pérez has highlighted that Aragón has always been a land of cinema but “even more so in the last year with the creation of the Aragón Film Commission, which facilitates logistics for audiovisual producers and promotes the local audiovisual industry with its work.” In fact, Pérez has valued the celebration of the Forqué Awards in Aragon very positively since "it vindicates the community as an ideal setting for filmmaking and a space where cultural industries in the audiovisual field have generated a very strong nucleus." “We have representatives from all areas of the sector who stand out inside and outside the territory and these awards are going to be another showcase for Spain to understand how cinema is being worked in Aragon.

In less than a year, the Aragón Film Commission has attracted the filming of national and international films already released in cinemas such as Jota, Our Lovers, Uncertain Glory o Villaviciosa next door and, on television, the chapter dedicated to Bécquer in The ministry of time. Other shoots like The Brothers Sisters, Under the skin of the wolf o The Cathedral of the Sea They are pending release.

The 23rd Awards ceremony will be the second to be held outside of Madrid. Last January, it was Seville that hosted these awards, bringing together with great success prominent institutional representatives and big names in Spanish cinema such as Emma Suarez, Paz Vega, Jose Coronado, Imanol Arias, Verónica Forqué, Eduardo Noriega, Adriana Ugarte, Raúl Arévalo, María León, Inma Cuesta and Antonio de la Torre.

After 22 editions, Los Forqué have established themselves as one of the most prestigious film awards in the Spanish film industry and is currently a must-see event for all professionals in the sector: actors, directors and producers.

EGEDA is the non-profit entity for the management of rights of audiovisual producers. It created these awards in 1996 with the aim of spreading the importance of the audiovisual industry, promoting the figure of the film producer and rewarding the best Spanish film productions each year for their technical and artistic values.

Spanish cinema, in figures

Until September, Spanish cinema grossed 60 million euros, 3% more than in 2016. More than ten million viewers have gone to the cinema so far this year to see a Spanish film, which represents an increase of 5% compared to the same period last year. Therefore, the screen share of Spanish cinema stands at 14%, a figure similar to that of 2016.

Three Spanish films have surpassed one million viewers: Tadeo Jones 2, It's for your own good y Lord, give me patience. And behind these titles are other films with good grossing such as The invisible guardian, Setback o Veronica.