Laia Ateca Wins Second Gaudí for Sirat Art Direction

Andorran art director Laia Ateca claimed her second consecutive Gaudí Award for best art direction on *Sirat* at the ceremony held Sunday in Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, overcoming rivals Anna Auquer (*Sorda*), Marta Bazaco (*Frontera*) and Mónica Bernuy (*Romería*). The win follows her 2024 honour for *Polvo serán* and adds to the accolades for Oliver Laxe's 2025 hit, starring Sergi López, which follows a father and son tracking a missing daughter after a Moroccan rave.

In her speech, Ateca praised her crew as the "family" that pulled off the grueling production and dedicated the prize to her own relatives and friends, who "make my life better." She closed with a spirited shout: "Long live raves!" Reflecting later, she recalled sudden nerves despite earlier calm: "I thought I was relaxed, but when they called my name, the nerves hit again." The recognition, she said, eases memories of the tough shoot, where her team built a credible yet striking visual world from dust, dirt, modified 1970s trucks, improvised roads and spaces. Some choices carried real risks, especially the trucks' physical strain, done on faith they'd hold up.

Ateca views awards like this as boosting confidence for newcomers while delighting supporters, though she believes art direction still needs more advocacy in film. Her style evolves like a weaving loom, blending lifelong threads with fresh ones per project. Looking ahead, she eyes new work, including *Ivan & Hadoum*, her latest on Berlinale-bound greenhouse workers in Almeria facing trans identity struggles—filmed last spring in El Ejido, Tabernas and Níjar.

The victory raises her stakes for the Goyas on 28 February at Barcelona's Fòrum CCIB, where she'll vie in a male-dominated field—only one woman, Ana Alvargonzález for *Pa negre* in 2011, has won in 39 prior editions. *Sirat* leads with 11 nods, facing *Los domingos*, *El cautivo*, *Los tigres* and *Maspalomas*; Ateca flags *El cautivo*'s period sets as a threat, given academies' tastes. She tempers hopes: each jury has quirks—what thrilled Berlin or Catalan voters may not sway Spain-wide.

*Sirat* holds Oscar nods for best international feature and sound—against Brazil's *The Secret Agent*, France's *It Was Just an Accident*, Norway's *Sentimental Value* and Tunisia's *The Voice of Hind Rajab*—with ceremonies on 15 March in Hollywood. It swept five European Film Awards from 12 nods, including Ateca's production design, and eight total.

Fellow Andorran Desirée Guirao, nominated alongside Angèlica Muñoz for best costume design on *Sorda*, lost to Mercé Paloma (*Frontera*). Guirao earned a nod in 2019 for *La hija de un ladrón*.