The Chilean production will compete for the Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film during the event, which will take place for the first time in Málaga, participating alongside The Awakening of the Ants from Costa Rica, Heroic Losers from Argentina, and Monos from Colombia.

Just as it was announced months ago, director Andrés Wood will return for the fourth time, on January 25th, to the 34th edition of the Goya Awards, this time with his most recent offering, Spider. Wood was previously nominated for the films Machuca (2004); The Good Life (2008), which won him his first Goya; and Violeta Went to Heaven (2011).

The filmmaker continues to reinforce his image as one of the most outstanding directors of Chilean cinema. Spider, his latest film, reflects on the dangers of fascism and our country’s historical wounds. These characteristics permitted it to be selected in spaces like Contemporary World Cinema at the Toronto Film Festival, and in Latin Horizons at the Festival of San Sebastián.

Wood’s new narrative, which premiered in Chile on August 15th, stars Mercedes Morán, María Valverde, Marcelo Alonso, Pedro Fontaine, Felipe Armas, and Gabriel Urzúa, and was produced by Alejandra García at Wood Producciones.

Prior to its nomination to the Spanish event, the film had to go through a voting process that would select the Chilean film in charge of competing for a space at the Spanish Academy’s awards. This selection was done by the 2020 Selection Committee, comprised of 154 people separated into 14 groups that represent different audiovisual disciplines (Directors, Producers, Art Directors, Wardrobe Professionals, Editors, Musicians, Special Effects Artists, Screenwriters, Actors, Makeup Artists, Directors of Photography, Sound Designers, Animators, and Academics), made up of specialists designated by the Council of Art and the Audiovisual Industry, which was based on the list of members of the Chilean Film Academy.

Three decades have passed since the birth of the Goya Awards, which had its first edition in 1987 with the goal of highlighting the best work from diverse areas of cinema. However, five years had to go by before Chile would walk the red carpet at the Spanish event for the first time.

It was at the 5th Goya Awards when Gonzalo Justiniano became the first Chilean to be nominated for the film Candy or Mint; and the first triumph came a year later, in 1991, when renowned director Ricardo Larraín was granted the award for his film The Frontier. Following said victory, the film Johnny 100 Pesos by Gustavo Graef Marino was nominated in 1993. Then, eight years went by, and the 16th edition of the Goya Awards nominated A Cab for Three by Orlando Lübbert.

2004 was the year that director Andrés Wood landed for the first time at the Goya Awards. His film Machuca set a precedent in a fruitful career that, since then, maintains his reputation as one of the most outstanding directors in Chilean cinema.

Starting in 2005, the growth and quality of Chilean cinema has been notable with the succession of nominations it’s had at the Goya Awards. In 2005, My Best Enemy by Alex Bowen was nominated; in 2006, it was In Bed by Matías Bize; in 2007, the film Padre nuestro by Rodrigo Sepúlveda; in 2008, Wood returned to the event with The Good Life, winning his first Goya; and in 2009, Dawson. Island 10 by Miguel Littín.

In 2010, Chile once again took home the statuette, this time for The Life of Fish by Matías Bize. In 2011, Wood returned to Spain for the third time with the film Violeta Went to Heaven. Then in 2013 came Gloria by Sebastián Lelio; in 2015, the occasion nominated its first Chilean documentary, Tea Time by Maite Alberdi. In 2017, A Fantastic Woman by Lelio won the Goya, while in 2018, Los Perros by Marcela Said was the representative of Chile.