The Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded the Goya of Honour 2024 to Juan Mariné, director of photography and film restorer, much loved and valued by professionals in the film industry.
Juan Mariné, who will be 103 years old in December, has won several prestigious awards in the film industry: Patronato Juan de la Cierva Research Award (1964), National Photography Award (1966), Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts (1990), National Cinematography Award (1994), Gold Medal of the Spanish Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences (1996), Segundo Chomón Award for Technical Contribution to Cinematography, from the Spanish Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences (2001), Golden Spike of Honour at the 60th Valladolid International Film Week. SEMINCI (2015) and Honorary María Award at the 50th Edition of the International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (2017).
Juan Mariné is a member of the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España, of the Asociación de Directoras y Directores de Fotografía (AEC), of AISGE, Honorary Member of the Academia del Cinema Català and Honorary Trustee of the Fundación Aula de Cine Colección Josep M. Queraltó.
Juan Mariné’s life deserves to be told. His experiences and his long professional career could be the subject of more than one film and a long television series. So far, four documentaries have been made: “Juan Mariné: La aventura de hacer cine” (2017) by Primitivo Pérez; “El Submariné” by Wenceslao Scyzoryk; “Juan Mariné: entre luz y sombra” (2023) by Rafael Toba and “Juan Mariné. Un siglo de cine” (2023) by María Luisa Pujol, which will be released at the end of November at the Filmax Gran Via cinemas in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona).
Of the 140 films he has made, we can highlight titles such as “La sombra iluminada” (Carlos Serrano de Osma, 1948), “El santuario no se rinde” (Arturo Ruiz Castillo, 1949), “Día tras día” (Antonio del Amo, 1950), “El pescador de coplas” (Antonio del Amo, 1953), “Orgullo” (Manuel Mur Oti, 1955), “La gata” (Margarita Alexandre y Rafael M. Torrecilla, 1956), “091, policía al habla” (José María Forqué, 1960), “El joven rebelde” (Julio García Espinosa, 1961), “La gran familia” (Fernando Palacios, 1962), “Historias de la televisión” (José Luis Saenz de Heredia, 1965), “La ciudad no es para mí” (Pedro Lazaga, 1965), “Un millón en la basura” (José María Forqué, 1967), “Los chicos del Preu” (Pedro Lazagaa, 1967), “Sor Citroen” (Pedro Lazaga, 1967), “A 45 revoluciones por minuto” (Pedro Lazaga, 1969), “El astronauta” (Javier Aguirre, 1970) and “Supersonic Man” (Juan Piquer Simón, 1979).
The Goya of Honour is the best possible culmination to such a brilliant and exemplary career as that of Juan Mariné, who came very close in 1988 to winning the Goya for Best Special Effects for his work in Juan Piquer’s “Slugs, muerte viscosa”. An error in the film’s credits prevented him from winning it. The Goya of Honour from the Academy of Cinema settles the injustice.