Penélope Cruz Wows, Tears Up at San Sebastian, Receiving Spain’s National Cinematography Prize

variety.com:

Liza Foreman After wowing a home crowd at the opening night of the San Sebastián Film Festival on Friday, looking dazzling at 48, Spain’s best-known actress, Penélope Cruz, spoke to a packed auditorium at the city’s Tabakalera culture center on Saturday when she was honored with Spain’s National Cinematography Prize. “It is truly an honor for me to receive this National Cinematography Prize,” said Cruz speaking in Spanish.  “Cinema is and has been my passion since I was a child.

Since I dreamed in the living room of my parents’ house of worlds to explore beyond our neighbourhood. The streets of my neighborhood sometimes became sets for incredible stories,” she went on. “My childhood was fantasizing about acting, living life so intensely to be able to encompass many lives through dozens of characters.” Cruz received two standing ovations during the ceremony.

Cruz was presented the award by Spain’s Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta. She spent part of a six-minute speech looking back and drawing at least one lesson from a now more than 30-year career. “A beautiful poem by Cavafis says that if you are going to travel to Ithaca, try to make the trip long; because the important thing is not to arrive, the important thing is the adventures that are experienced along the way,” Cruz reflected.  “And that is true in life and in the cinema.

It is not the result, it is the incredible adventure of living other lives, knowing other realities, discovering wonderful secrets of the human heart, and sharing them with the world.