Spain’s prestigious Goya Film Awards ceremony on Saturday is likely to be overshadowed by sexual assault allegations against an independent Spanish film director.
On the eve of the ceremony, actor Sigourney Weaver, who will be honored at the event, spoke about the incident at a press conference.
At Saturday night’s awards ceremony, director Pedro Almodovar and actor Penelope Cruz will be presented with several awards, but three women have come forward to testify that they suffered sexual assault at the hands of director Carlos Vermut, according to El Pais. The event will be held two weeks after the event was announced.
All have requested anonymity, and none have filed a complaint with the police due to concerns about the impact on their careers. In an interview with the newspaper, the filmmaker denied the allegations.
And on the eve of the event in the northwestern city of Valladolid, Spain’s Culture Minister Ernesto Urtasun promised to establish a force to deal with allegations of abuse within the sector. It was a “very serious problem”, he admitted.
Ahead of the ceremony, the Spanish Film Academy also pledged to fight against such abuses within the industry.
The Academy, which organizes the awards, said: “Sexual violence and abuse of power have no place in the film industry or in Spanish society as a whole.”
– “This is a serious problem” –
Speaking on Friday, Urtasun pledged to create a specialized unit within the Culture Ministry to handle allegations of gender violence and to “stand by women working in this field.”
“We have a serious problem of sexual assault and violence in the cultural world and we need to take action as an organization,” he told La Sexta TV.
A rising star in Spanish independent film, the 43-year-old director, whose real name is Carlos López del Rey, won the top prize at the 2014 San Sebastian Film Festival for his second feature, Magical Girl. We won two awards.
El Pais named the three women and said the alleged assaults occurred between May 2014 and February 2022. The report sparked outrage in a country that has played a leading role in the fight against sexual violence.
One woman accused Bermut of pinning her down, choking her and forcing her to have sex with him, saying she tried to stop him both verbally and physically.
Another man, an aspiring film director, said he lunged at her to kiss her and ripped her bra off. A third said she had a consensual relationship with him but he subjected her to horrific rough sex to which she did not consent.
– “Rough but consensual” –
In three interviews with the newspaper, Vermut said, “I had no knowledge that he had committed sexual violence against women.”
“I’ve always had consensual rough sex,” he said.
Since the rise of the #Metoo movement in 2017, major figures in the film industry have been accused of sexual violence one after another.
Hollywood star Sigourney Weaver will be on the red carpet at this year’s Goya Awards.
The 74-year-old actor will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for a string of films including “Alien” and “Gorillas in the Mist.”
Asked about the incident Friday at a press conference in the northern city of Valladolid, Weaver said: “I am very sorry to hear about this and my heart goes out to the women.”
“Women are the ones who are speaking out about this situation and abuse, making it safer for all women to work in this industry.”
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