Spanish actress Penelope Cruz (right), and film director Alejandro Amenabar present the Best Film award at the 31st Goya awards ceremony in Madrid on Feb 4. (AFP)

LOS ANGELES, Feb 5, (RTRS): Conversations about an actor’s life were mixed with observations about Muslims and the Supreme Court as the Santa Barbara International Film Festival saluted eight actors for their breakthrough work in 2016 films.The first recipient of the fest’s Virtuoso Awards on Saturday was Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight” and “Hidden Figures”). He was asked about his SAG Awards speech about being a Muslim, and about his reaction to having his religion “dragged through the mud” for the past months. “The Muslims I know are peace-loving people”, he said quietly, adding that the actions of a few extremists have been reported so much that many people are getting a distorted view of the religion.Janelle Monae, who also appears in both those films, said she was deeply moved when she first read Barry Jenkins’ script for the latter, because it depicted characters who are usually marginalized and discriminated against.A third “Moonlight” actor, Naomie Harris, spoke about filming her role in three days, even though the script spans 15 years and they had to film out of sequence. She was scheduled to do the work over three weeks, but “For some reason, I had visa issues”, she said wryly.Ruth Negga, Ethiopian-born and raised in Ireland, said she was unaware of the Supreme Court before she started work on “Loving”, but hopes the film raises worldwide awareness of the court and its justices. She said the true-life story of Richard and Mildred Loving wasn’t a black-white issue or an American issue: “It’s the world’s story”, because Supreme Court decisions often have global implications.InspiringDev Patel was a crowd favorite, inspiring whoops on the red carpet, during his entrance onstage, and for some of his answers. He spoke about having to fight for the role in “Lion”, after being typecast as “that goofy kid” in the “Exotic Marigold Hotel” movies, adding, “I was fighting against my own resume”.Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Nocturnal Animals”), Simon Helberg (“Florence Foster Jenkins”), and Stephen McKinley Henderson (“Fences”) also spoke of their work, expressing admiration for Tom Ford, Meryl Streep, and August Wilson/Denzel Washington, respectively.Dave Karger of “Today” and TCM conducted one-on-one interviews with the eight actors, who then assembled at the end for a group discussion. Asked to recommend a 2016 movie, several of them cited documentaries “I Am Not Your Negro”, “Life, Animated”, “13”, and “O.J.: Made in America”. Patel and Taylor-Johnson also recommended “Captain Fantastic”.In a huge achievement for a first film, actor-turned-director Raul Arevalo’s ‘The Fury of a Patient Man’ took best picture and best first feature at the 31st Spanish Film Academy Goyas on Saturday night.An outstanding genre-blending romantic drama which soon morphs into a road movie then brutal vengeance thriller, “The Fury of a Patient Man” also snagged original screenplay (David Pulido, Arevalo) and supporting actor for Manolo Solo.Produced by Beatriz Bodegas at Madrid-based Canica Films, “Fury” — which is set in a “normal” Spain rarely seen in movies, depicting its bars, roadside motels, card games and family fiestas — seemed as if it would have to settle for a clutch of awards as J.A. Bayona’s “A Monster Calls, “ starring Liam Neeson, Jennifer Jones and Sigourney Weaver, swept every prize it was nominated for during most of Saturday’s Goya ceremony. But its original screenplay win over “A Monster Calls” suggested it could pull off the big best picture award as well.For Bayona, who took best director and 10 prizes in all, it was third-time unlucky, having won best first feature in 2008 with “The Orphanage”, then director in 2013 for “The Impossible”, but never taking best picture.“A Monster Calls” and Alberto Rodriguez’s “Smoke & Mirrors” led nominations, with 12 and 11 category nods — a recognition of the two Spanish directors who have arguably burst onto the scene to largest impact from the turn of the century.But, though “Smokes & Mirrors” scooped adapted screenplay and breakthrough actor (Carlos Santos), it finally proved to be “Fury’s” night.Swedish helmer-writer Amanda Kernell’s debut feature “Sami Blood” came away a big winner at the 40th Goteborg Film Festival, scoring the generously endowed (approx. $114,000) Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film.“Sami Blood” tells the story of a teenage Sami girl, Elle Marja (Lene Cecilia Sparrok), who resolves to leave behind her Sami identity and find a new life in Uppsala during the 1930s. The film, recently acquired for US release by Synergistic Distribution, also claimed the Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award for DoP Sophia Olsson.The Swedish premiere of “Sami Blood” capped the fest’s special focus on Sami filmmaking. Kernell, who is herself of Sami heritage, will soon screen the film for Sami elders in Lapland. The fest also world-preemed Kernell’s excellent 30-minute short “I Will Always Love You Conny” in a showcase of five new films funded by Moving Sweden’s micro-budget scheme.“Lion” lenser Greig Fraser walked away with top honors in the feature film category at the 31st annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards Saturday night. Other nominees in the field were James Laxton (“Moonlight”), Rodrigo Prieto (“Silence”), Linus Sandgren (“La La Land”) and Bradford Young (“Arrival”).Each of the ASC feature nominees were also nominated by the Academy this year.In the ASC’s TV categories, “Game of Thrones” and “Mr Robot” came out victorious, while HBO’s “The Night Of” won in the miniseries/pilot category.“House of Others” DP Gorgka Gomez Andreu won the third annual Spotlight award, which recognizes feature-length projects that are screened at festivals, internationally, or in limited theatrical release.Denzel Washington and cinematographers Edward Lachman, Philippe Rousselot, Bill Garcia and Nancy Schreiber won honorary awards.Last year’s ASC and Oscar winner for cinematography was Emmanuel Lubezki for “The Revenant”.