'Snow White' the big favorite at the Goyas

Blancanieves (Snow White), Grupo 7 (Unit 7), El artista y la modelo (The Artist and the Model) and Lo imposible (The Impossible) have been announced as the movies with the most nominations for a Goya Award, Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Pablo Berger’s take on the traditional children’s story has chalked up 18 nominations, followed by Grupo 7 with 16, Lo imposible with 14, and El artista y la modelo with 13.

Una pistola en cada mano (A gun in each hand), by Cesc Gay, was the great loser on the candidate list despite a cast of Spanish-language stars that includes Ricardo Darín, Luis Tosar, Eduardo Noriega and Leonor Watling. Its only Goya nomination is for actress Candela Peña for best supporting role.

This year, the Spanish Film Academy is acknowledging the work of foreign actors and nominating Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Tom Holland for awards.

The directors of the four favorites are also in the running for best filmmaker award: Pablo Berger (Blancanieves), Alberto Rodríguez (Grupo 7), Juan Antonio Bayona (Lo imposible) and Fernando Trueba (El artista y la modelo).

This year, for the first time, the creator of an animation film has been nominated for Best New Director: Enrique Gato for Tadeo Jones.

The Goya Awards ceremony will be held on February 17 at the Auditorium Hotel after the city of Madrid closed down its regular venue, the Palacio de Congresos convention center.