17/11/2009

The Seville Film Festival, one of the leading annual events for European cinema, closed with the triumph of Jessica Hausner’s Austrian/French/German co-production Lourdes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile], which won the Golden Giraldillo for Best Film (worth €50,000).

This was the perfect ending to 14 days of screenings, presentations, conferences and tributes, held in the unrivalled setting of the Andalucian capital.

But the list of prize-winners in the Official Selection doesn’t end there. Honours also went to Urszula Antoniak’s Nothing Personal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Urszula Antoniak
interview: Urszula Antoniak
film profile], winner of the Silver Giraldillo (worth €25,000); and Malcolm Venville’s UK film 44 Inch Chest [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which took the Special Jury Prize (also worth €25,000).

Meanwhile, Spanish documentary Garbo: The Spy, the first directorial foray by producer Edmon Roch, triumphed in the documentary section EuroDoc.

The winner of the Eurimages section (for productions financed by the organisation) was Aku Louhimies’ Finnish/German/Greek co-production Tears of April [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

One of the European films of the year, Jacques Audiard’s French title A Prophet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile], claimed the top prize in the fourth and final competitive section, the EFA Selection, which included 23 titles among the nominees for the forthcoming European Film Awards (EFA).

Besides the prizes in each section, there was a series of distinctions open to all participating films. These include Best Director, which went to Hungary’s Roland Vranik for Transmission; and the Special Award from Jury President Nicolas Roeg, for Swiss video artist Pipilotti Rist’s debut feature, Pepperminta [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

(Translated from Spanish)