Three films screened at the 21st Seville Film Festival triumphed at the 97th Oscar Awards, held March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Academy honored Flow, No Other Land, and Emilia Pérez in a gala marked by a tribute to the recently deceased Gene Hackman.
The Latvian film Flow, directed by Gints Zilbalodis and co-written with Matīss Kaža, won the Oscar Award for Best Animated Feature. Before its success in Los Angeles, this dialogue-free film, which tells the story of a stubborn cat struggling to survive a great flood, had already received a Golden Globe and three awards at the Seville Festival: the Puerta America Award, the Grand Jury Award, and Best Editing Award.
Emilia Pérez, the risky musical by Jacques Audiard presented in Seville in the EFA Section, won two statuettes: Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña and Best Original Song for El mal.
The documentary No Other Land, directed and co-written by Palestinian Basel Adra and Israeli Yuval Abraham, which portrays the demolition of homes in a community located in the far south of the West Bank, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. It was screened in the Puerta Europa section.
The success of these films emphasizes the Seville Festival's role in showcasing top European and international cinema. It also highlights its innovative Puerta América Award, given to films representing their countries in the Oscar nominations.
