● The French film by twins Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma also wins the Best Actor award for young Paul Kircher.
● Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis wins the Grand Jury, Best Editing and Puerta América Awards for his animated film “Flow”.
● ”The Girl with the Needle” is the other big winner with four awards, including Best Director for Magnus von Horn and Best Actress for Trine Dyrholm.
● British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri wins the Best Screenplay Award for “Santosh”.
● Aitor Echeverría wins the AC/E Award for Best Spanish Film Director for “Desmontando un Elefante” (Dismantling an Elephant).
The Seville European Film Festival has announced the winning film at its 21st edition, “And Their Children After Them”, the fourth feature film by the French duo Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, who, as in their previous works, directed and wrote it together. The Official Selection Jury, formed by David Puttnam (president), Jeremy Irons, Paola Malanga, Mounia Meddour and Eva Rekettyei, decided to award the Golden Giraldillo for Best Film to this tale of initiation by the Boukherma twins.
Adapted from the novel that won the 2018 Goncourt Prize, the film portrays the lives of a group of teenagers in a valley in de-industrialised France over the course of four summers, beginning in 1992. The other award won by “And Their Children After Them” at the 21st edition of the Seville European Film Festival is Best Actor for its young leading man, twenty-two-year-old Paul Kircher, whose co-directors acknowledged for his introspective and movingly fragile performance in this story of social determinism.
Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis has won the Grand Jury Award for his dialogue-free animated film “Flow”, as well as the award for Best Editing, which also goes by Zilbalodis himself. Starring a stubborn and independent cat who is forced to share a small boat with other animals in order to survive a great flood, the narrative power of this film (with a screenplay by Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža) is achieved through the handling of the audiovisual language.
The other big winner at the 21st Seville European Film Festival was “The Girl with the Needle”, a co-production between Denmark, Sweden and Poland, which won four awards in the Official Selection, including Best Director for the Swede Magnus von Horn, for this film with a marked aesthetic, somewhere between drama and gothic horror. The jury also gave awards to Denmark's Trine Dyrholm, Best Actress for her portrayal of serial killer Dagmar Overbye, Michał Dymek, Best Cinematography for this black and white 1.66:1 format film, and Jagna Dobesz, Best Art Direction for a film set in post-World War I Copenhagen.
The list of winners in the Official Selection is completed with the Best Screenplay Award for “Secrets of a Crime”, by the British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri. In this way, the jury sought to value the script of a film with noir overtones, set in the India of the caste system, where a young widow inherits her husband's position as a police officer in a rural area in the north of the country, becoming involved in an investigation that plunges her into a web of corruption, misogyny and violence.
Puerta América Award
This is the first time that the Seville European Film Festival has awarded the Puerta América Award, which is given to films from the different sections of the festival that represent their respective countries in the Oscar nomination for best international film, and which in this edition has gone to “Flow”, by Gints Zilbalodis: “During a terrible flood and through the adventure of a group of very human animals, we move from the tension of individual survival to shared solidarity and friendship. An animated film that moves us without words, with gestures and images, capable of transmitting hope in dark times”, stated the jury in its decision.
The New Waves, AC/E, “Rampa” and “Alumbramiento” Awards
“The flame of a candle”, for which Portuguese director and screenwriter André Gil Mata was inspired by the lives of his own grandmother and her maid, who lived together in a house on the outskirts of Oporto for 60 years, was selected as the best film in the New Waves section. The jury highlighted “the film's subtle handling of the themes of life, death, memory and decadence through a radical cinematic style that explores the limits of space and time, implying that places exist even without us, imbued with our personal stories and memories”.
Likewise, the New Waves jury awarded a special mention to the film “Prefiro condenarme”, by Galician director and screenwriter Margarita Ledo Andión, for “the importance of recovering the empowerment of women, the stories of the past that were silenced not only politically but also cinematographically; for all those female filmmakers who had no voice; for the need to tell the unjust and forgotten stories of our grandmothers and mothers”.
The filmmaker Aitor Echeverría, who competed in the Official Section with “Desmontando un Elefante” (Dismantling an Elephant), won the AC/E Award for Best Spanish Film Director, awarded by Acción Cultural Española, for “a moving film, with intimate direction and a sharp photographic eye, all supported by an impeccable cast”, according to the jury, which added in its decision that it is “a successful debut film”.
The jury of the “Rampa” section, another novelty at this year's Seville European Film Festival, recognised “Drowning Dry”, by Lithuanian director and screenwriter Laurynas Bareiša, as the best film, for “its ability to disturb with minimal elements, its use of sequence shots and off-camera shots, its stupendous performances and one of the sharpest and most perverse readings of toxic masculinity that we have seen in recent European cinema”. It also included in its decision a special mention for the Italian-French actress Valeria Bruni Tedeschi for “her performance in the film “Somewhere in love”, which is as stark as it is tender and full of humour”.
Also new this year is the “Alumbramiento” section, where the jury of international critics (FIPRESCI) decided to give the Best Film Award to “Lads”, the first fiction feature film by French director Julien Menanteau (also co-screenwriter with Nour Bem Salem), for “its solid and energetic narrative proposal that portrays a unique world with great visual and plastic skill”, as well as for “the dramatic force provided by the performance of its actors”. In this section, the jury awarded a special mention to “O vento assobiando nas gruas”, by the Swiss director and screenwriter (based in Portugal) Jeanne Waltz, for “her risky and symbolic proposal about a universe of interracial and interclass relations”.
For its part, the CampUS Joven Award for best director in the “Rampa” section went to the Moroccan-French filmmaker Saïd Hamich Benlarbi for “Across the sea”, according to the jury, “a film that shows us cinema and music as unifying elements across the Mediterranean; with complex characters far removed from any Manichean treatment, from the perspective of a very relevant theme on a social level in contemporary Europe”.
Andalusian Panorama and other awards
The Juan Antonio Bermúdez Award for Best Film in the Andalusian Panorama section went unanimously to “Los restos del pasar”, directed and written by Luis (Soto) Muñoz and Alfredo Picazo, “for the poetics of its cinematographic language”, as well as for “its originality in narrating the universal from the setting of a southern village, blurring the boundary between fiction and non-fiction”. Likewise, the jury of this section awarded a special mention, by majority, to the film “Caja de Resistencia”, directed and scripted by Concha Barquero Artés and Alejandro Alvarado Jódar, “for rescuing the cinematographic memory of Fernando Ruiz Vergara and for the way in which its authors maintain their commitment to resistance”. The jury also valued “the creative risk” of this documentary and felt that this mention “closes a circle after the award for the documentary “Rocío” at the Seville Festival in 1980”.
The Rosario Valpuesta Award for Best Short Film in the Andalusian Panorama section went to “Tumbas vecinas”, directed by José Antonio Gutiérrez Bustos (with a script by Ángel Villahermosa), while the Rosario Valpuesta Special Award for artistic contribution in this same section was awarded to the animated short film “El cambio de rueda”, directed and written by Begoña Arostegui.
In the XVII European Film-Screenwriting Award University of Seville category, first prize went to “Y ahora que duermes”, by Beatriz Hohenleiter Márquez and Mario Lerma, a project in which the jury highlighted “the discovery of a sensorial and psychological universe, as well as the description of a seductive character, achieving a suggestive proposal and a treatment of death and mourning through everyday life”, and the second prize was awarded to “Madre puesta”, by Álvaro del Moral Otero, which the jury valued for its ability to “break with the archetype of the biological mother as a sign of goodness and investigate other alternatives that replace the concept of the biological family, and the possibility that the chosen family is your family”.
The AAMMA Women in Focus Award went to “This Life of Mine”, by the French director and screenwriter Sophie Fillières, for being “a free, luminous and profound film, which humorously deals with the complexity of its protagonist, Barberie Bichette, a woman who at 55 years of age does not take herself for granted and does not conform to conventions but seeks the meaning of her passage through the world, with a perspective that is both off-centre and poetic”. The jury of this award highlighted the main character who “is gradually constructed as the film progresses, with vulnerability as the driving force of her journey and her strength”, and also wanted to acknowledge the work of the actress Agnès Jaoui, “for the non-formulaic delicacy and singularity that she brings with her performance”.
The documentary “Un hombre libre”, directed by Laura Hojman (also co-writer with María D. Valderrama) and with its world premiere in the Official Selection out of competition, has won the Queer Ocaña Freedom Award, for “an enlightening portrait of the life of the writer and homosexual Agustín Gómez Arcos that combines the defence of democratic memory and the vindication of gender and sexual identity”.
The Europa Junior Award has gone to the French-Canadian animated film “Dunia and the Echo of the Drum”, directed by Marya Zarif and André Kadi (with screenplay by Marya Zarif and Halima Elkhatabi), while the Cinephiles of the Future Award went to “Young Hearts”, by Belgian director Anthony Schatteman (co-screenwriter with Lukas Dhont).
The Grand Audience Award for Best Film in the EFA Selection will be announced in the coming days.
Screening of the winning films
As is customary, the winning films at this year's Seville European Film Festival will be screened in special sessions, which will take place tomorrow, Sunday 17 November, at the Alameda Theatre. “Flow”, by Gints Zilbalodis, which won the Grand Jury Award and the Puerta América Prize, among other awards, will be screened at 17:30. The winner of the Golden Giraldillo for Best Film at the festival, “And Their Children After Them”, by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, will be screened at 20:30.
Tickets for both screenings, which cost 3.50 euros and cannot be exchanged with season tickets, are already on sale on the festival's website. They can also be purchased today Saturday until 22:00 h at the box offices of the Odeón Plaza de Armas and mk2 Nervión Plaza cinemas, and tomorrow, Sunday, one hour before each session at the box offices of Teatro Alameda.
COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS
OFFICIAL SECTION
Golden Giraldillo for Best Film in the Official Section:
AND THEIR CHILDREN AFTER THEM (Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma)
Grand Jury Award in the Official Section:
FLOW (Gints Zilbalodis)
Best Direction Award:
Magnus von Horn (THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE)
Best Script Award:
Sandhya Suri (SECRETOS DE UN CRIMEN)
Best Actress Award:
Trine Dyrholm (THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE)
Best Actor Award:
Paul Kircher (AND THEIR CHILDREN AFTER THEM)
Best Editing Award:
Gints Zilbalodis (FLOW)
Best Cinematography Award:
Michał Dymek (THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE)
Best Art Direction Award:
Jagna Dobesz (THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE)
PUERTA AMÉRICA
Puerta América Award:
FLOW (Gints Zilbalodis)
THE NEW WAVES
The New Waves Best Film Award:
THE FLAME OF A CANDLE (André Gil Mata)
The New Waves Special Jury Award:
PREFIRO CONDENARME (Margarita Ledo Andión)
RAMPA
Rampa Best Film Award:
DROWNING DRY (Laurynas Bareiša)
Rampa Special Jury Award:
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (SOMEWHERE IN LOVE)
CampUS Jury Award:
Saïd Hamich Benlarbi (ACROSS THE SEA)
ALUMBRAMIENTO
Alumbramiento Best Film Award:
LADS (Julien Menanteau)
Alumbramiento Special Jury Award:
O VENTO ASSOBIANDO NAS GRUAS (Jeanne Waltz)
ANDALUSIAN PANORAMA
Andalusian Panorama “Juan Antonio Bermúdez” Best Film Award:
LOS RESTOS DEL PASAR (Luis (Soto) Muñoz and Alfredo Picazo)
Andalusian Panorama Special Jury Award:
CAJA DE RESISTENCIA (Concha Barquero Artés and Alejandro Alvarado Jódar)
Andalusian Panorama “Rosario Valpuesta” Award for Best Short Filrm:
TUMBAS VECINAS (José Antonio Gutiérrez Bustos)
“Rosario Valpuesta” Special Award for Artistic Contribution:
EL CAMBIO DE RUEDA (Begoña Arostegui)
OTHER AWARDS
AC/E Award for the Best Spanish Film Director:
Aitor Echeverría (DESMONTANDO UN ELEFANTE)
AAMMA Women in Focus Award:
THIS LIFE OF MINE (Sophie Fillières)
Queer Ocaña Freedom Award:
UN HOMBRE LIBRE (Laura Hojman)
Cinephiles of the Future Award:
YOUNG HEARTS (Anthony Schatteman)
Europa Júnior Award:
DUNIA Y EL ECO DEL TAMBOR (Marya Zarif and André Kadir)
XVII European Film-Screenwriting Award University of Seville in the fiction category
First Prize: Y AHORA QUE DUERMES (Beatriz Hohenleiter Márquez and Mario Lerma)
Second Prize: MADRE PUESTA (Álvaro del Moral Otero)
