Films being released online throughout 2020 are eligible for nomination to the Goya Awards in 2021, the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Spanish Academy of the Arts and Science) has announced.
The prestigious institution recalled that films originally set for theatrical release this year have instead premiered online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as the health crisis has forced the implementation of social distancing rules and the closure of public spaces, including movie theaters in most countries around the world.
The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered the Spanish equivalent to the American Academy Awards. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Spanish Academy of the Arts and Science, and the first awards ceremony took place on March 16, 1987 at the Lope de Vega Theater, in Madrid.
The ceremony continues to take place annually around the end of January, and awards are given to films produced during the previous year. The award itself is a small bronze bust of Francisco de Goya created by the sculptor José Luis Fernández.
