The Apolo Awards (Spanish: Premios Apolo de cine LGTB) are annual awards given to the best LGBT-themed films that have been released in Spain. Since 2016 they have been awarded by LGBT culture outlet Dos Manzanas, with the intention to highlight high-quality filmmaking in order to encourage more LGBT-themed works to be distributed in the country.
The Apolo Awards were founded in 2016 by Dos Manzanas. The magazine and website Dos Manzanas reports on LGBT culture in Spain as well as advocating for LGBT+ equality.[1] After informally awarding LGBT-themed book awards in 2015,[2]Dos Manzanas started the Apolo Awards, referencing Olympian god Apollo, with an aim to vindicate distributing LGBT-themed works in Spain by celebrating the high quality of LGBT+ films.[3] They also award the Spanish distributors who help combat LGBT-phobia by being brave enough to choose to show the films. Many nominees and winners are thus the best international productions, with fewer Spanish films, as well as the local distributors of them.[4]
For the 2016 awards, the Best Song category was added.[5] In response to more LGBT-themed films being released, particularly by international streaming services, the 2021 awards upped the nominations per category to four (from three) for most, and to ten (from five) for Best Film. It also added three new categories to better appreciate more diverse films, each with five nominees: Best Comedy, Best Documentary, and Best Spanish Film.[6]
Categories[]
Production[]
Best Adapted Screenplay (Mejor Guion Adaptado)
Best Production Design (Mejor Dirección Artística)
Best Cinematography (Mejor Fotografía)
Best Comedy (Mejor Comedia)*
Best Costuming (Mejor Vestuario)
Best Director (Mejor Dirección)
Best Documentary (Mejor Documental)*
Best Editing (Mejor Montaje)
Best Film (Mejor Película)
Best Hair and Make-Up (Mejor Maquillaje y Peluquería)
Best New Director (Mejor Dirección Novel)
Best Original Music (Mejor Música Original)
Best Original Screenplay (Mejor Guion Original)
Best Song/Original Song (Mejor Canción/Original)
Best Sound (Mejor Sonido)
Best Spanish Film (Mejor Película Española)*
*Introduced for 2021 awards (VIIth edition)
Acting[]
Best Actor (Mejor Actor)
Best Actress (Mejor Actriz)
Best Ensemble Cast (Mejor Reparto)
Best Couple (Mejor Pareja)
Best New Actor (Mejor Actor Revelación)
Best New Actress (Mejor Actriz Revelación)
Best Supporting Actor (Mejor Actor Secundario/de Reparto)
Best Supporting Actress (Mejor Actriz Secundaria/de Reparto)
Awards[]
Films are nominated based on the year during which they were first distributed in Spain; the awards are given in January of the following year.
Pride – Ben Schnetzer, Monica Dolan, George MacKay, Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, Joseph Gilgun, Sophie Evans, Lisa Palfrey, Menna Trussler, Karina Fernandez, Liz White, Chris Overton, Jessica Gunning, Matthew Flynn, Jessie Cave and Freddie Fox (Golem)
The Furies – José Sacristán, Mercedes Sampietro, Bárbara Lennie, Carmen Machi, Emma Suárez, Alberto San Juan, Elisabet Gelabert, Gonzalo de Castro, Pere Arquillué and Macarena Sanz (Wanda Visión)
The Handmaiden – Ha Jung-woo, Kim Min-hee, Cho Jin-woong, Kim Tae-ri, Moon So-ri and Kim Hae-sook (La Aventura Audiovisual)
The People vs. Fritz Bauer – Burghart Klaußner, Ronald Zehrfeld, Dani Levy, Sebastian Blomberg, Laura Tonke, Lilith Stangenberg, Michael Schenk, Matthias Weidenhöfer, Götz Schubert, Jörg Schüttauf, Cornelia Gröschel, Paulus Manker, Tilo Werner, Rüdiger Klink and Robert Atzorn (Caramel Films)
Blake Lively – A Simple Favor as Emily Nelson / Hope McLanden and Faith McLanden (eOne Films)
Rachel McAdams – Disobedience as Esti Kuperman (Sony Pictures)
Best Ensemble Cast
BPM (Beats per Minute) – Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Adèle Haenel, Yves Heck, Arnaud Valois, Emmanuel Ménard, Antoine Reinartz, François Rabette, Félix Maritaud, Catherine Vinatier, Médhi Touré, Aloïse Sauvage, Simon Bourgade, Saadia Ben Taieb, Théophile Ray, Ariel Borenstein, Simon Guélat, Jean-François Auguste, Samuel Churin, Pauline Guimard and Coralie Russier (Avalon)
Call Me by Your Name – Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois, Elena Bucci, Marco Sgrosso, André Aciman and Peter Spears (Sony Pictures)
The Party – Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas and Timothy Spall (Avalon)
Best Couple
Blær Hinriksson and Baldur Einarsson – Heartstone as Christian and Thor (Abordar)
Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name as Oliver and Elio Perlman (Sony Pictures)
The Shiny Shrimps – Nicolas Gob, Alban Lenoir, Geoffrey Couët, Michaël Abiteboul, David Baïot, Romain Lancry, Thomas Croisière, Jonathan Louis, Romain Brau, Maïa Quesemand, Roland Menou, Pierre Samuel and Félix Martinez (Vértigo Films)
Let Me Fall – Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir, Álfrún Laufeyjardóttir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Gary Anthony Stennette, Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir, Atli Oskar Fjalarsson, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Jordi Rodríguez, Björn Stefánsson, Eyrún Björk Jakobsdóttir, Haraldur Ari Stefánsson, Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir, Sigurbjartur Atlason and Einar Gunn (La Aventura Audiovisual)
Best Couple
Vincent Lacoste and Pierre Deladonchamps – Sorry Angel as Arthur Prigent and Jacques Tondelli (Surtsey Films)
Jennifer Ehle – Saint Maud as Amanda Köhl (Sony Pictures)
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi – Summer of 85 as David's mother (Golem)
Laura Linney – Falling as Sarah Peterson (Caramel Films)
Best Ensemble Cast
Matthias & Maxime – Xavier Dolan, Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas, Anne Dorval, Catherine Brunet, Pier-Luc Funk, Harris Dickinson, Antoine Pilon, Marilyn Castonguay, Micheline Bernard, Adib Alkhalidey, Samuel Gauthier, Camille Felton, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Jacques Lavallée, Louise Bombardier, Monique Spaziani and Louis-Julien Durso (Avalon)
Bombshell – Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman, John Lithgow, Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon, Malcolm McDowell, Mark Duplass, Alice Eve, Connie Britton, Alanna Ubach, Elisabeth Röhm, Madeline Zima, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Liv Hewson, London Fuller, Ashley Greene, Nazanin Boniadi and Stephen Root (eOne Films)
Kajillionaire – Evan Rachel Wood, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, Gina Rodriguez, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Diana-Maria Riva, Susan Berger, Mark Ivanir, Rachel Redleaf, Betsy Baker, Patricia Belcher, Kim Estes, Randy Ryan, Blanca Araceli, Michelle Gillette, Adam Bartley, Michael Twaine, Andrew Hawkes, David Ury, Matthew Downs, Samantha Cardona and Zachary Barton (Universal Pictures)
Best Couple
Gina Rodriguez and Evan Rachel Wood – Kajillionaire as Melanie Whitacre and Old Dolio Dyne (Universal Pictures)
David Moragas and Jacob Perkins – A Stormy Night as Marcos and Alan (Filmin)
Dating Amber – Fionn O'Shea, Lola Petticrew, Sharon Horgan, Barry Ward, Simone Kirby, Evan O'Connor, Ian O'Reilly, Emma Willis, Anastasia Blake, Lauryn Canny, Shaun Dunne, Adam Carolan, Peter Campion, Ally Ni Chiarain, Tara Flynn, Arian Nik, Andrew Bennett, Karl Rice, Shauna Higgins, Dillon Potter Stapleton and Hannah O'Reilly (Elamedia)