11/05/2009

The sixth edition of Documenta Madrid, one of Spain’s most important documentary film festivals, closed on Sunday, May 10. The event screened 107 works, with three European productions scooping prizes in the international competition.

Samuel Alarcón’s Spanish film La Ciudad de los Signos (“The City of Signs”) won the Audience Award and Wang Bing’s French/Chinese co-production L'Argent du Charbon (“Coal Money”) took the Second Jury Prize. Meanwhile, Boris Mitic’s Serbian film Good Bye, How Are You? received an honourable mention.

Composed of Albert Serra (Birdsong), Lourdes Portillo and Shannon Kelley, the jury awarded the top prize to Carlos Hagerman and Juan Carlos Rulfo’s Mexican title Los Que se Quedan (“Those Who Stay Behind”).

Alarcón’s La Ciudad de los Signos is a journey through Italian director Roberto Rossellini’s films and their settings, an immense city built behind the backs of the living and the dead.

Meanwhile, Diogo Costa Amarante’s In January, Perhaps picked up the main prize in the national competition, followed by Enric Miró’s Anás: An Indian Film (Second Jury Prize), and Luis Alaejos and Raúl Díez Alaejos’ Palacio (Audience Award).

Moreover, Spanish director Chema Rodríguez won two awards: Coyote (previously presented in the Panorama section at the Berlinale) earned second prize in the International Documentary Reporting Competition (whose first prize went to Ian Olds’ US title Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi); and Triste Borracha (“Sad Drunkard”) scooped first prize in the Spanish Shorts Competition.

(Translated from Spanish)