The City of Palma awards recognize a documentary about Joan Ribot, the Mallorcan who worked as John Wayne's waiter.

PalmThe story of a Mallorcan, Joan Ribot, who crossed the world in the last John Wayne film has led another Mallorcan, Jordi Nadal (Palma, 1992), to cross it half a century later to reconstruct this modern epic in the documentary The Last Cowboy of Hollywood, Awarded the 2025 City of Palma Maria Forteza Audiovisual Prize. "It's true that the feedback we received this summer, after the screenings, was very positive and that the whole team was very happy with the work done," Jordi Nadal told ARA Baleares on Monday morning, "but for the jury to agree is truly very exciting."

It all started when Nadal, a screenwriter and filmmaker who has made his documentary directorial debut with this project, read Ribot's story in the newspaper. "My father had already told me about it, but the headline really caught my attention: a Mallorcan man who met John Wayne in the 1960s, they became friends, and he ended up leaving with him in Los Angeles. I called the Santa Margalida town hall and finally managed to contact him and arrange a meeting, and then I saw that all of this had come to fruition, and then I saw that all of this had been achieved, and then I saw that all of this had been achieved, and then I saw that all of this had been achieved, of this story." And they set off for the United States to learn firsthand about Ribot's background and career.

A disappearing world

"We tried to show that behind this anecdote, behind this starting point, many other things are hidden. What captivated me was who he is, his way of understanding life and adapting to changing times. The enthusiasm and energy he has, at 85 years old, he still does, and now. And I think that in the end, Joan is an example of how important it is to love what you do, whatever it may be," the filmmaker explains. In any case, he clarifies that the documentary also serves as "a witness to a world that is disappearing before our eyes." "Juan would tell us, for example, about the dinners that the older "To introduce young stars, like Clint Eastwood in his early days, and how upset John Wayne was that he was no longer invited," Nadal explains.

The documentary, a co-production of Far Visuals – a production company that already won the same award last year for Villaronga's Lost Tape– and IB3 Televisió, it will be shown on regional television soon and a screening is also planned for Santa Margalida with Joan Ribot himself among the attendees.