Spain’s cinema elite gathered in the northern city of Valladolid Saturday night for the Goya film awards ceremony, with allegations of sexual assault directed at an independent Spanish filmmaker overshadowing the event.

Two weeks after three women told El Pais newspaper they had suffered sexual violence at the hands of filmmaker Carlos Vermut, the story was still making news. Vermut, in interviews with El Pais, has denied any wrongdoing. One of the presenters at the ceremony, actor Ana Belen, acknowledged Saturday that the issue was going to be “present” at the four-hour event, which honored films directed by J. A. Bayona and Justine Triet.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, arriving for the awards, told journalists: “We have to change many things. Violence against women is structural violence.” On Friday, US star Sigourney Weaver, who was honored at the event, addressed the affair at a news conference.

“I’m very sorry to hear about this case, and my heart goes out to the women,” said the three-time Oscar nominee. “It is women who speak up about this situation and abuses, that are making it safer for all women to work in this industry.”

Spanish film director Juan Antonio Bayona poses on the red carpet.

Spanish film director and screenwriter Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren poses for pictures after receiving the Best New Director award for "20.000 especies de abejas" (20,000 species of bees).

Spanish actress Janet Novas poses for pictures after receiving the Best New Actress award for her role in "O corno" (The rye horn).

Spanish actor David Verdaguer poses for pictures after receiving the Best Leading Actor award for his role in "Saben aquell" .

Spanish actress Ane Gabarain poses for pictures after receiving the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in "20.000 especies de abejas" (20,000 species of bees).

Cast members celebrate on stage after receiving the Best Film award for "La sociedad de la nieve" (Society of snow).

American actress Sigourney Weaver delivers a speech after receiving the International Goya Award for her career at the 38th Goya Awards ceremony.

Chilean director Maite Alberdi receives the Best Latin-American Film award for "La memoria infinita" (The eternal memory).

Spanish actress Ane Gabarain receives the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in "20.000 especies de abejas" (20,000 species of bees).

Weaver, 74, was presented with a lifetime achievement award for a string of films, including the “Alien” franchise and “Gorillas in the Mist”. The award for best film went to Bayona’s “Society of the Snow”, about an amateur Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972. Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” won the prize for best European film.

‘A serious problem’

On Friday, Spain’s Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun pledged to open a unit to tackle such abuse allegations within the sector. “We have a serious problem with sexual assault and violence within the world of culture and we as institutions need to take action,” he told La Sexta television. The Spanish Film Academy has also said it would fight against such abuses in the industry.

“Sexual violence and abuses of power have no place in the world of cinema or in Spanish society as a whole,” said the academy, which runs the awards. A rising star in Spain’s independent cinema, the 43-year-old director - whose real name is Carlos Lopez del Rey - won two top prizes at the 2014 San Sebastian film festival for “Magical Girl”, his second feature.

Citing the three women, El Pais said the alleged assaults happened between May 2014 and February 2022. The report sparked anger in a country that has taken a leading role in fighting sexual violence. Interviewed by the newspaper three times, Vermut said he had not been “aware of having exercised sexual violence against any woman.” Since the emergence in 2017 of the #Metoo movement, a string of major figures from the world of cinema have been accused of sexual violence. — AFP