Pablo Berger’s ‘Robot Dreams’ Scores Four Spanish Academy Goya Award Nominations

The Spanish Academy Goya Awards have announced this year’s nominees, and Pablo Berger’s debut animated feature Robot Dreams scored four nominations. That’s the most for an animated feature since Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles did the same in 2020.

In addition to an animated feature nod, Robot Dreams will compete against live-action fare in the categories for best adapted screenplay, original music, and editing.

Although Robot Dreams is Berger’s first animation film, he is an accomplished director whose 2012 feature Blancanieves (Snow White) is considered a modern Spanish classic. It won dozens of awards at home and abroad, including ten Goyas.

Adapted from Sara Varon’s graphic novel of the same name, the film’s official synopsis reads:

Dog and Robot are the best friends in the world. One beautiful day, they decide to go to the beach, but at the end of the day, Robot is all rusty and completely paralyzed! His friend, not knowing what to do, leaves him behind. As the seasons pass, Dog tries to find new friends with some success, while Robot has no choice but to dream of more ideal situations.

Neon acquired North American distribution rights to Robot Dreams at Cannes, but the company hasn’t announced its plans for the film yet.

While the four nominations are impressive, Robot Dreams faces stiff competition in the Goyas’ animated feature category. This year’s nominees are:

• They Shot the Piano Player – Directors: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal; Producer: Cristina Huete
• Sultana’s Dream – Director: Isabel Herguera; Producers: Chelo Loureiro, Diego Herguera, Fabian Driehorst, Iván Miñambres, Mariano Baratech
• Hanna and the Monsters – Director: Lorena Ares; Producers: Ángeles Hernández, David Matamoros
• Mummies – Director: Juan Jesús García Galocha; Producers: Cleber Beretta, Francisco Celma, Jordi Gasull, Marc Sabé, Pedro Solís, Toni Novella
• Robot Dreams – Director: Pablo Berger; Producer: Ángel Durández, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia

They Shot the Piano Player had a tremendous festival run and is directed by the Oscar-nominated Chico & Rita duo of Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal. Sultana’s Dream, directed by Isabel Huergera, is the most aesthetically ambitious film from the lot and had a stellar festival run of its own. Juan Jesús García Galocha’s Mummies is the biggest commercial hit among this year’s nominees, impressing audiences in several European territories. The category’s fifth film, cg preschool feature Hanna and the Monsters, looks like a long shot given the impressive profiles of the other nominees.

Here are the nominees in the other animation-related Goya categories:

Best Animated Short Film

Becarias – Director: Marina Cortón, Marina Donderis, Núria Poveda

To Bird or Not To Bird – Director: Martín Romero

Todo Bien – Director: Diana Acién Manzorro

Todo está Perdido – Director: Carla Pereira, Juanfran Jacinto

Txotxongiloa – Director: Sonia Estévez

Best Special Effects

• 20,000 Species of Bees – Mariano García Marty, Jon Serrano, David Heras, Fran Belda, Indira Martín
• La ermita (The Chapel) – Eneritz Zapiain, Iñaki Gil “Ketxu”
• La sociedad de la nieve (Society of the Snow) – Pau Costa, Félix Bergés, Laura Pedro
• Tin & Tina – Mariano García Marty, Jon Serrano, Juan Ventura, Amparo Martínez
• Valle de Sombras – Raúl Romanillos, Míriam Piquer