José Antonio Félez, gold medal of the 27th José María Forqué award

José Antonio Félez, in charge of the executive production of titles such as Seventeen, The Minimal Island, The Plague o Cousins, will be awarded the Gold Medal of the 27th edition of the José María Forqué Award.

With this award, EGEDA seeks to recognize the value of a producer “highly committed to Spanish audiovisuals”, who has been involved in his projects since their genesis, and who is closely linked to the cinematographic career of key figures in contemporary national cinema and series such as Alberto Rodríguez, Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, Achero Mañas, Adolfo Aristarain, Rafael Cobos o Saints Amodeo.

Félez, who has opted during his career for support for new talents, walking alongside new directors, scriptwriters, technicians and actors who now enjoy recognized prestige, he has a degree in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid and PDG from IESE. His first experience in the audiovisual sector was as deputy CEO of CBS/FOX in Spain at the end of the 80s.

Between 1995 and 1998, Félez collaborated with Elías Querejeta y Prime Films in production, marketing and organization tasks. During those same years, the producer also held the general secretary of the Spanish Videographic Union, national association of publishers and distributors, in addition to the general secretariat of the Association of Entertainment Software Distributors and Publishers (ADESE). Between 2012 and 2018 it was President of the State Association of Film Production Companies (AECine).

It would be in 1998 when he made his first executive production of a feature film with The southern lighthouse, by Eduardo Mignogna, awarded the Goya Award for Best Spanish-speaking Film in its 13th edition. That same year, Félez would found Tesela Productions Cinematographic companies, a key company in the sector that began its journey in 2000 with films At a gallop, by Julio Suárez Vega; The Pilgrim Factor, the debut of Santi Amodeo and Alberto Rodríguez in feature film direction, and the celebrated The ball, by Achero Mañas.

Great successes with audiences and critics

The ball, debut of Manas centered on a 12-year-old boy who suffers abuse and violence from his father, won the VI José María Forqué Cinematographic Award, the Discovery-Fassbinder Prize awarded by the European Film Academy, and four Goya awards for Best Film, Best New Director, Best New Actor and Best Original Screenplay. It would not be the only collaboration between Mañas and Félez, who once again worked hand in hand with November, the director's second feature film released in 2003 and winner of the Young Jury Prize at the San Sebastián Festival.

Félez would also support talent Daniel Sánchez Arevalo premiering in 2006 BlueDarkAlmostBlack, a feature-length debut that garnered more than 50 awards at festivals around the world, including three Goya awards, three Biznagas at the Malaga Festival and two recognitions at the Venice Festival; or Gordos in 2009. On the other hand, Félez has also developed his career very parallel to the trajectory of Alberto Rodriguez, with whom he has worked and continues to work since his foray into feature films. From this fruitful relationship, films such as The suit (2002) or the featured 7 virgins (2005), both performed by Tesela P.C..

The producer has also participated in films with renowned directors from the Latin American scene, highlighting in his filmography co-productions such as The escape (2001), by Eduardo Mignogna; Roma (2004), de Adolfo Aristarain; you are Elsa & Fred (2005), by Marcos Carnevale.

Atypical Films Foundation

In 2009, Félez founded Atypical Films together with Cristina Sutherland, from where she promoted Cousins (2011) o The great Spanish family (2013) by Sánchez Arévalo, two comedies of manners that also became great hits with audiences and critics.

The career of Alberto Rodriguez y Rafael Cobos, screenwriter and regular collaborator of the director, continued to develop in parallel to Atypical Films with Group 7 in 2012 and The minimal island, a film premiered in 2014 at the San Sebastián Festival that garnered continued success. Winner of 10 Goya Awards, including Best Film, Rodríguez's film also won the 20th José María Forqué Award for Best Film. The film starring Javier Gutiérrez and Raúl Arévalo, which addressed a dark criminal investigation within the framework of the Spanish Transition, gathered more than 1.3 million spectators in theaters, reaching 8 million euros in revenue and being distributed internationally.

In 2016, Félez would produce The man of a thousand faces, a film by Rodríguez that recounts corruption from a political thriller, and a year later, The fish, the Sevillian director's first foray into the small screen with the help of Movistar+. The series set in 16th century Seville had a second season, Garduña's hand, released in 2019, which had Rafael Cobos as showrunner and Rodríguez himself as director of two episodes. The last feature film produced by Atypical Films to date has been Seventeen (2019), an emotional film by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo whose importance was recognized by the Forqué Awards by awarding it the Film and Education in Values Award of its 25th edition.

With the arrival of the health crisis derived from Covid-19, Atypical Films was forced to delay the filming of its new productions: the series Those in the last row, which will be broadcast in Netflix, and the movie Model 77, co-produced with Movistar+, for which Sánchez Arévalo himself and Alberto Rodríguez are responsible, respectively. With Félez as producer, both are scheduled to premiere throughout 2022.

Gold medal

The presentation of the Gold Medal will be one of the highlights of the gala of the 27th edition of the José María Forqué Awards, presented by Marta Hazas and Elena S. Sánchez, and which will be broadcast TVE he December 11. The good boss, Parallel mothers, Maixabel y Mediterranean will be the competitors for the Forqué for Best Fiction or Animation Feature Film, while Iron, Stories to keep you awake, Fortune y lost faggot They will fight to win the trophy for Best Fiction Series.

Félez will pick up the baton from Fernando Colomo and Beatriz de la Gándara, who received the first Gold Medal ex aequo in the history of the Forqué. The producer joins the extensive list of those awarded this honorary recognition, among whom are Pedro Masó, Elías Querejeta, Eduardo Ducay, José Luis Borau, Fernando Trueba, Agustín Almodóvar, Santiago Segura, Carlos Saura, José Frade and Gonzalo Suárez.

The José María Forqué Film Award 2021 is organized by EGEDA with the participation of Madrid City Council, the Community of Madrid y RTVE, and has the collaboration of Ministry of Culture and Sports and other sponsors such as Cornel, FIPCA y Mercedes-Benz. EGEDA created these awards in 1996 with the aim of disseminating the importance of the Spanish audiovisual and film industry, promoting the figure of the producer and rewarding the best Spanish productions each year for their technical and artistic values.