The 40th edition of the Goya Awards will go down in history for many reasons, but one of the most resounding, and I mean that quite literally, is the recognition given to the team of Best Sound for the film SiratAt a gala held at the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB), the sound work of Oliver Laxe's film was consolidated as one of the great technical triumphs of the night, in a year marked by the rise of auteur cinema and international bets.
The award to Best Sound at the Goya Awards 2026 for Sirat It has been much more than just another statuette in the film's list of accolades. It represents a turning point in the history of Spanish cinema: for the first time, a team made up exclusively of women has won this technical award, making it clear that excellence in soundtracks and sound design is not about quotas, but rather about talent, skill, and perseverance.
A historic Goya: the first 100% female sound team
In the category of Better SoundThe competition was fierce. They were up against projects as solid as those of The captive, Sundays, The tigers y DeafHowever, the jury favored the sound proposal of Sirat, Signed by Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas, which thus become the first all-female team in achieving this recognition in the history of the Goya Awards.
Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas went on stage to collect the award on behalf of the team, since Amanda Villavieja was unable to attend the ceremonyCasanovas used his speech to deliver a clear message:We demand that this not be an exception, but the beginning of a change towards real parity behind the scenes.The sound engineer dedicated the award to those who trusted in them and to the professionals who, before them, paved the way in a still very male-dominated sector.
For its part, Yasmina PraderasThe Huesca native, born in 1981, recalled that this wasn't her first time making a strong impression on the Goya Awards stage. She had already tasted glory for her work in As Bestas, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, for which she won the Goya Award for Best Sound in 2023. This new victory, shared with Casanovas and Villavieja, consolidates her as one of the essential figures of the soundscape of Spanish and European cinema.
The three stressed that, before talking about gender, they prefer to talk about businessAs Yasmina Praderas argues, the focus should first be on the quality of the work, without denying that the fact that they are women and have reached that level helps. break glass ceilings in the technical departments.
What Sirat sounds like: from techno to total immersion with Dolby Atmos
The triumph of Best Sound at the Goya Awards 2026 for Sirat It cannot be understood without analyzing the film's sound design. Oliver Laxe's film relies on a very particular atmosphere, where the original music by Kangding Ray (alias of the Frenchman David Letellier) and the sound work intertwine to construct an almost physical sensory experience. The composer, who already won an award at Cannes for this soundtrack, delivers a score rooted in the techno, which functions simultaneously as landscape, narrative pulse and emotional trigger.
The use of technology Dolby Atmos This is one of the keys to Sirat's impact in venues; the mixing, by Yasmina PraderasIt takes advantage of the multi-channel layout and, together with the appropriate Acoustic of the rooms, generates a feeling of immersion which goes far beyond what is usually associated with action films. The sound doesn't just come from the screen and the sides, but envelops the audience from the ceiling and the back of the theater, reinforcing the feeling of being inside raves, the desert, or tense sequences.
According to the team, one of the objectives was for the public to learn to perceive that, through the sound narrativeMany things can be said without resorting to dialogue. From this approach arise moments like the first bomb explosionwhere the bass drum of the music amplifies the impact of the detonation and drags the viewer into a spiral of despair that is felt almost on the skin.
In this context, the sound design that signs Laia Casanovas plays a central role. Sirat is characterized by having few dialoguesThis necessitates that every atmosphere, every sound texture, and every silence be meticulously crafted. Casanovas herself points out that the film has encouraged many viewers to seek out a movie theater, because that's where this Atmos mix truly shines.
The result is an acoustic world where Kangding Ray's music, Casanovas' design, and Praderas' mixing transform sound into a more character in the movieIt is not a simple accompaniment: it is the nervous system that sustains the tension, the emotion and the sensory journey that Oliver Laxe proposes.
Careers and international recognition: from the Goya to the Oscar
The Goya Award Better Sound by Sirat It arrives at a particularly sweet moment for the three creators. In addition to its presence at the Barcelona awards ceremony, the film has achieved a double milestone: Oscar nomination for best international film and also for best soundThis is the first time a Spanish film has received this specific nomination at the Hollywood Academy Awards.
In the last months, Laia Casanovas She has spent much of her time in the United States participating in screenings, panel discussions, and events for the Oscars promotional campaign. She explains that it has been an intense process, with entire weeks dedicated to screening the film, answering questions from industry professionals, and presenting to voters, unions and associations linked to American cinema. Beyond the awards, the trip has allowed them to understand from the inside how that machine works and open doors for future projects.
Even so, Casanovas, Praderas, and Villavieja are all cautious when assessing the economic impact of these nominations. They acknowledge that, in the American film industry, an Oscar or even a nomination usually translates into an immediate increase in earnings, but they point out that In the case of Spanish cinema, there are hardly any precedents. of an international success of this magnitude in the sound department. For now, they see it as a tremendous calling card and an opportunity for their work to be taken seriously on a global scale.
Personally, the recognition comes after years of effort in a complex environment. Amanda VillaviejaHaving worked alongside filmmakers like José Luis Guerín and Isaki Lacuesta, she has repeatedly emphasized that working in sound is "extremely complicated" and that, as a woman, the challenge has been even greater. Therefore, while not wanting to reduce their achievement to a matter of gender, they do appreciate the increased visibility given to their work. Women also lead technical departments and serve as a reference for new generations.
This Goya adds to other key accolades for Sirat: the film has already been distinguished with the Jury Prize at Cannes and its soundtrack received the award for best original music there. Furthermore, in Europe, the sound work has won specific distinctions at the European Film Awardsreinforcing the idea that this is not an isolated success, but a creative endeavor that has resonated with critics and the industry beyond Spain.
The role of sound in Sirat's technical mastery at the Goya Awards
At the Barcelona gala, Sirat's triumph wasn't limited to the sound category. Oliver Laxe's film became the undisputed champion of the technical categories, accumulating a total of six Goyas of the eleven nominations it received. Among them, in addition to Best Sound, the awards for original music, editing, production management, art direction and photography.
The composer kangding ray collected the Goya Best Original Musicconfirming the fundamental role that his score plays in the film's audiovisual structure. The music and sound, far from functioning separately, are integrated into a unitary proposal which reinforces the idea of total immersion. In one of the most talked-about sequences, the explosion of a bomb merges with electronic percussion, blurring the boundary between diegetic noise and musical rhythm.
The award to Best Mounting was to Christopher Fernandezwhose work maintains the balance between the most contemplative scenes and the moments of maximum tension. In a film with little dialogue, the editing rhythm and the sound design are closely linked: Each image cut is accompanied by a sound decision which keeps the viewer in a constant state of alertness.
En CinematographyThe award went to Mauro Actorwho signed his second Goya Award with Laxe after Fire Will Come. His images of the desert, raves, and the Atlas gorges engage in a direct dialogue with the sound team's work: suffocating, empty shots, laden with dust and heat, where silences and echoes become almost tangible.
The section of Art Direction, in hands of Laia Ateca FontThis was also recognized. The construction of spaces—from clandestine parties to the most inhospitable locations—allows sound to unfold with a variety of registers: crowds, engines, wind, debris, almost imperceptible background noise… All this physical environment gives the team led by Villavieja, Casanovas, and Praderas a vast soundscapewhich they use to tell the story without needing to over-explain anything in the dialogue.
A night marked by Sirat in the context of the 2026 Goya Awards
Although the Goya to best Picture was to Sundays, by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, who also won for directing, original screenplay, leading actress and supporting actress, the general feeling is that Sirat was the big technical winner of the evening. In the total tally of awards, Laxe's film ended the night as the title with the most prizes, thanks to its overwhelming performance in the production, art and sound categories.
The return of the Goya Awards to Barcelona, twenty-six years later, turned the ceremony into a celebration of the memory of Spanish cinemawith nods to the past and a look to the future. The presence of figures such as Susan Sarandon, distinguished with the International Goya Award, and Gonzalo SuárezThe Honorary Goya Award winner emphasized the Academy's commitment to connecting the history of national cinema with the global landscape.
In this context of celebration and activism, Sirat's sound team's victory resonated as a symbol of renewal. The gala was also marked by speeches addressing political and social issues, such as the situation in Gaza or the warnings against the advance of the far right, especially present in some speeches by award winners in international and Ibero-American categories.
Beyond the strictly political aspects, the night highlighted the importance of the human stories and from intimate narratives, both in films like Los domingos or Maspalomas and in a more sensory and risky proposal like Sirat. In all of them, sound has ceased to be an invisible element and has become a first-order expressive resourceThis became especially evident with the media prominence of Laxe's team.
The fact that a Spanish film with a distinct auteur style, filmed partly in environments such as the moroccan atlas And the fact that it has achieved so many technical awards with such an unconventional narrative sends a clear message: The industry is willing to support risky proposals if they are based on impeccable technical work.And sound plays an essential role in that equation.
Yasmina Praderas: from As bestas to her second Goya by Sirat
Within the award-winning trio, the figure of Yasmina Praderas She deserves special attention. Born in Huesca in 1981, she has established herself as one of the leading figures in sound design in Spain. She had already experienced a major milestone in 2023 with the Goya Award for Best Sound for As Bestasand his name has been prominent in the last decade in projects as diverse as Campeonex o They know that, where she was also nominated.
For the 2026 edition, Praderas arrived in Barcelona in full professional maturityThe work done on Sirat had already garnered recognition with an award at the European Film Awards and an Oscar nomination, confirming that it was not simply local acclaim. During production, she herself acknowledges that the challenge was enormous: Few dialogues, a lot of atmosphere, and an absolute prominence of image and sound.
As he has explained in several interviews, this apparent handicap became a creative advantage. The absence of words forced him to consider every sound decision as a crucial narrative element. Silence ceased to be an emptiness and became an expressive tool.And every background noise, every breath or gust of wind had to contribute information or emotion.
Praderas has described Sirat as a project that allowed him to make “risky” decisions that might not have been approved in a more conventional production. This margin of freedom translated into a very wide range of expressive possibilitiesFrom the way raves sound to the echo of engines in gorges or the way music blends with sound effects.
Although he acknowledges that, while they were working, the team didn't imagine the journey the film would eventually take, they did feel they were building a a very particular and coherent sound world with Laxe's vision. Once the mix was finished, the pride in the result was evident, but even then they didn't suspect that they would end up signing one of the most outstanding chapters of sound in the recent history of Spanish cinema.
A collaborative effort that goes beyond the main trio
Although the spotlights and the statuette of Best Sound at the Goya Awards 2026 for Sirat They bear the names of Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, and Yasmina Praderas; they themselves insist that the audio of a film is always a teamworkThey estimate that at least a dozen professionals are involved in a project of this nature, including film technicians, editors, effects specialists, and mixing assistants.
During filming, the sound work is, in the words of Amanda Villavieja, a Work in progress constant. Unexpected events in open locations, the extreme conditions of filming in the desert or in the Atlas Mountains, and the complexity of recording certain scenes force us to go improvising solutions and readjusting plans on the fly. This flexibility is key so that, in the post-production phase, the team has enough rich material to build the acoustic universe that the director has in mind.
Examples like the sequence of the truck that got stuck In one of the gorges, this collective effort is well illustrated. The scene, suffocating and seemingly simple in terms of dialogue, requires meticulous attention to noises, creaks, echoes, and silences to convey the sense of danger and claustrophobia experienced by the character. Every detail, from the squeak of the vehicle to the distant echo of the wind, is designed so that the viewer feels the tension even before anything serious happens.
Furthermore, the team has repeatedly emphasized the good rapport with him Oliver LaxThe director granted the sound department a wide margin of confidenceallowing them to propose unconventional ideas and opt for solutions that strayed from the standard fare of commercial cinema. This creative freedom, combined with fluid communication with the editing, music, and cinematography teams, has been fundamental to achieving the cohesive result seen on screen.
The Goya Awards recognition and international nominations also help to highlight something that often goes unnoticed: that sound, when well-crafted, stands out precisely because it seems natural, organic, and inevitable. Sirat has succeeded in getting many viewers to leave the theater talking, not only about what they've seen, but also about... what they have heardAnd that is already a significant change in trend.
Altogether, the Best Sound at the Goya Awards 2026 for Sirat It symbolizes much more than a one-off victory in a technical category: it confirms the maturity of Spanish cinema in the field of audio, vindicates the role of women at the head of traditionally male departments, and reinforces the idea that sound, when given space, can become one of the main drivers of cinematic storytelling.
