Director Alejandro Amenabar (left) and actor Javier Bardem won awards

Starring Javier Bardem, it tells the true story of a man who spent 30 years trying to end his life with dignity after an accident left him paralysed.

The Goya Awards won by The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro) included best film, best director for Alejandro Amenabar and best actor for Bardem.

It is favourite to win the Oscar for best foreign language film in February.

Bardem spent hours in make-up to gain wrinkles and lose hair

In The Sea Inside, Bardem plays Ramon Sampedro, who was paralysed from the neck down in a diving accident and died in 1998 aged 55.

It has already won a Golden Globe for best foreign language film as well as a string of accolades at film festivals and critics' awards around the world.

Bardem was nominated for an Academy Award for Before Night Falls in 2001 and Amenabar's previous credits include Abre Los Ojos, which was remade as Vanilla Sky, and The Others, starring Nicole Kidman.