Spain’s National Film Prize Honoree Carmen Machi: ‘Acting Has Been the Driving Force of My Happiness and Also a Balm for My Darkest Moments’

Sep 19, 2026 10:27am PT Spain’s National Film Prize Honoree Carmen Machi: ‘Acting Has Been the Driving Force of My Happiness and Also a Balm for My Darkest Moments’

By Anna Marie de la Fuente

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Anna Marie de la Fuente

@adelafuente1

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Carmen Machi and Spanish Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun, Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture

Actor Carmen Machi, best known for her role as Aida in the wildly popular Spanish series “7 Lives” and spin-off “Aida” as well as her pivotal roles in Almodóvar classics “Talk to Her” and “Broken Embraces,” received the 2026 National Film Prize at the San Sebastian Festival, a prestigious honor that has been granted to a bevy of Spanish greats, including Oscar winners and nominees Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Antonio Banderas, director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”) and El Deseo producer Esther Garcia, among many others since the Spanish Ministry of Culture launched it in 1980.

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