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MADRID -- Isabel Coixet's The Secret Life of Words walked away with the top honors in four categories at the 20th Goya awards ceremony Sunday night, leaving its rivals fairly empty-handed. The drama, starring Tim Robbins and Sarah Polley, beat Fernando Leon's social critique Princesses, Montxo Armendariz's Obaba and Alberto Rodriguez's 7 Virgins. Words won in the film, director, original script and production design categories, leaving the female acting honors to Princesses stars Candela Pena (actress) and Micaela Nevarez (new actress). Rodriguez's cutting teenage drama 7 Virgins won the new actor award for Jesus Carroza.

MADRID -- Montxo Armendariz's Obaba and Fernando Leon's Princesas (Princesses) emerged as hot favorites Thursday to pick up plaudits this January at the Spanish Film Academy's 20th annual Goya Awards, Spain's highest film honors. Obaba, set in the Basque region and Spain's contender for a foreign-language Oscar, nabbed 10 nominations, including nominations in all the major categories. Princesas, set for its international premiere at Sundance next month, took nine nominations but failed to pick one up in the directing category. Competing for best film as well as the director prize are Alberto Rodriguez's hard-hitting teen drama 7 Virgins, with six nominations, and Isabel Coixet's La Vida Secreta de las Palabras (The Secret Life of Words), with five nominations. Produced by Pedro and Agustin Almodovar, Palabras stars Tim Robbins and Sarah Polley. Benito Zambrano will vie against the others in the directing category with his Habana Blues.

MADRID -- The Spanish film Obaba by award-winning director Montxo Armendariz will open the 53rd San Sebastian International Film Festival, organizers said Friday. Armendariz adapted the film, which will be in the festival's Official Competition, from Basque writer Bernardo Atxaga's 1988 novel Obabakoak. Starring Pilar Lopez de Ayala, Juan Diego Botto, Eduard Fernandez, Peter Lohmeyer and Mercedes Sampietro, Obaba was filmed in the Spanish region of Navarra. Armendariz won San Sebastian's top prize, the Golden Shell, in 1990 for Letters from Alou and the Silver Shell in 1986 for 27 Hours. The festival is scheduled to run Sept. 15-24.