The Argentine film Belén, directed by Dolores Fonzi, won the Goya award for best Ibero-American film this Saturday. The movie, available on Prime Video, is based on a real case of detention for spontaneous abortion. Fonzi used her speech to address global issues and the situation in Argentina.
Belén, directed by Dolores Fonzi, won the Goya award for best Ibero-American film at the ceremony held this Saturday. The Argentine production competed with other nominees and prevailed in the category, according to local media reports. This victory marks the twelfth time an Argentine film has received this recognition in the 40-year history of the Goyas, the premier awards for Spanish-language cinema. Previous winners include titles such as La película del rey, Un lugar en el mundo, La odisea de los giles, Cenizas del paraíso, Plata quemada, El secreto de sus ojos, Un cuento chino, Relatos salvajes, El ciudadano ilustre, El clan, and Argentina, 1985.
Other Argentine nominations at the ceremony included Juan Minujín for best supporting actor in Los domingos and Hernán Zin for best feature-length documentary with 2025: todos somos Gaza, though they did not win.
The story of Belén is based on a real case from 2014 at Hospital Avellaneda in San Miguel de Tucumán. A young woman, presenting with intense abdominal pain, was found to be pregnant and suffered a spontaneous abortion. She was detained accused of murdering the baby and remained imprisoned for nearly three years until her acquittal in 2017. The lawyer Soledad Deza, a Catholic feminist who later presided over Fundación Mujeres x Mujeres, took on the case with her colleague. In the film, Fonzi portrays this lawyer, while Camila Platee plays Julieta, the character based on the young woman, protected by the pseudonym Belén to safeguard her identity.
Upon receiving the award, Dolores Fonzi delivered an emotional speech: “We are the movies we make and at this moment the world has become a horror movie, where the genocide in Gaza has already been named, the claims of women in Iran, the persecution of migrants in the United States, and that horror movie is not us as humanity. We cannot continue to allow it.” She also referred to the national administration: “You, who still have time, do not fall into the trap. The ultraright came to destroy everything. I come from the future of a country where the president put water up for sale. So we have to defend not only cinema, but also water.”
This distinction highlights the growing impact of Argentine cinema in the international circuit, adding pride to the national industry.
