With a Golden Bear for Spanish director Carla Simon and four compatriots nominated for Oscars, including superstars Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, Spanish cinema has now begun to captivate a global audience. When Bardem and Cruz, who have been married for more than a decade, were both tapped for Oscars, the 53-year-old actor could hardly contain his excitement. “The fact that [Cruz’s] nomination was for a role in Spanish ... seems really extraordinary, even historic in terms of the Spanish brand,” he said last month. Unlike other nations with a long and distinguished history of cinema,...