14/11/2022 - French filmmaker Alice Diop's courtroom drama has seduced the 19th edition of this contest dedicated to European film, winning the Golden Giraldillo for Best Film as well as Best Screenplay

Guslagie Malanda, the lead actress in Saint Omer, during her visit to the 19th Seville Film Festival (© Lolo Vasco)

Saint Omer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
interview: Kayije Kagame
film profile], the debut fiction piece from French-Senegalese documentary filmmaker Alice Diop (We [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
film profile], On Call [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), is on a steady path to success as it continues to rack up award after award. Having already won in Venice, Gante and Chicago, with a nomination for Best Director at the European Film Awards and at the Oscars representing France, the film can now add another milestone to the list after receiving the Giraldillo de Oro for the best feature film in the Official Section at the 19th Seville European Film Festival on Saturday. It also won the prize for best screenplay, written by Diop with Amrita David and Marie Ndiaye.

The jury at the event in Andalusia, Spain, consisted of Mounia Akl, Charles Tesson, Laurentina Guidotti, Elisa Victoria and Rocío Mesa (Tobacco Barns [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rocío Mesa
film profile]), who praised “the huge role entrusted to the power of words - in a courtroom setting - to understand reality while also using them to show us the haze of the inexplicable.” The film, based on a true story of a woman who caused the death of her baby, deals with the racial prejudices and critical awareness of a multicultural society, as well as the contradictions and conflicts that come with motherhood in the modern world.

This year's event, says José Luis Cienfuegos, recovered more than 12% of its audience compared with 2021: the screening were full of spectators, many of them young; this is one of the concerns of festivals today, as they are keen to build up the audiences of the future. This was evident in an event where the other award-winners were also announced, including the films that shared the Grand Jury Prize: Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eden Dambrine
interview: Lukas Dhont
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile], by the Belgian film-maker Lukas Dhont, another work that has shot straight to the top this season, and Will-o’-the-Wisp [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Pedro Rodrigues
film profile], by Portugal's Joao Pedro Rodrigues, a fun and very daring queer-environmental musical cocktail with a socio-political backdrop and a tragic-romantic halo.

The remaining awards went to the Italian Pietro Marcello –who triumphed here three years ago with  Martin Eden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile]–, this time winning Best Director for Scarlet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile]; actors Eden Dambrine (Best Actor in Close) and Julie Ledru, Best Actress for her role in Rodéo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lola Quivoron and Julie Ledru
film profile], shared with Zahra Amir Ebrahimi for  Holy Spider [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Zar Amir Ebrahimi
film profile]; Spain's Mauro Herce (Best Photography for his work on the coproduction between his country, Argentina and France on Matadero [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]); and Géraldine Mangenot, Best Editing for Other People's Children [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile], the film that opened this year’s festival.

In the Directors’ section, the jury gave a special mention to Paolo Taviani for his Leonora Addio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Taviani
film profile], a film dedicated to his late brother Vittorio: “With apparent simplicity,” they said, “the film-maker deals with deep-seated issues: Pirandello, 20th century Italy, the journey taken by the writer’s ashes. And, following in the footsteps of Sergio Leone, he delivers his own particular Once upon a Time in America with wonderful minimalism.”

The award winners:

Official Section

Giraldillo de Oro for Best Film
Saint Omer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Diop
interview: Kayije Kagame
film profile] - Alice Diop (France)

Grand Jury Prize (ex aequo)
Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eden Dambrine
interview: Lukas Dhont
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] - Lukas Dhont (Belgium/France/Netherlands)
Will o’ the Wisp [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Pedro Rodrigues
film profile] - João Pedro Rodrigues (Portugal/France)

Best Director
Pietro Marcello – Scarlet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile] (France/Italy/Germany)

Best Actor
Eden Dambrine - Close

Best Actress (ex aequo)
Julie Ledru – Rodéo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lola Quivoron and Julie Ledru
film profile] (France)
Zar Amir Ebrahimi - Holy Spider [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Zar Amir Ebrahimi
film profile] (Germany/Denmark/France/Sweden)

Best Screenplay
Alice Diop, Amrita David, Marie Ndiaye - Saint Omer

Best Editing
Geraldine Mangenot - The Children of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile] (France)

Best Photography
Mauro Herce – Matadero [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France/Spain/Argentina)

New Waves

Best Film
Aftersun [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Charlotte Wells (United Kingdom/United States)

New Non-Fiction Waves Best Film
Journey to the Sun- Susana de Sousa Dias, Ansgar Schaefer (Portugal)

New Waves Special Award
The Bride [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Sergio Trefaut (Portugal)

Endless Revolutions

Best Film
Afterwater [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Dane Komlijen (Germany/South Korea/Spain/Serbia)

Andalusian Panorama

Best Film
Como ardilla en el agua - Mayte Gomez Molina, Mayte Molina Romero (Spain)

Rosario Valpuesta Award for Best Short Film
Mothertruckers - Paula Romero (Spain)

Rosario Valpuesta Award for technical-artistic contribution
Menudo viaje. El sueño torcido del arte contemporáneo - María Cañas (short film) (Spain)

Other Awards

Audience Award for Best Film in the Extraordinary Stories Section
Blue Jean [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Georgia Oakley
film profile] - Georgia Oakley (United Kingdom)

Grand Audience Award for Best Film in the EFA Selection
Tori and Lokita [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joely Mbundu
interview: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile] - Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne (Belgium/France)

AC/E (Spanish Cultural Action) Award for Best Spanish Film Director
Carlos Pardo Ros – H [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Pardo Ros
film profile] (Spain)

Award for Best Director of first or second European feature film
Nikola Spasić – Christina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nikola Spasic
film profile] (Serbia)

Future Film-lovers’ Award
Rodéo - Lola Quivoron

Junior European Film Award
Las vacaciones de Yoko - Juanjo Elordi (Spain)

ASECAN Award for Best Film from the Official Section
Siete Jereles - Pedro G. Romero y Gonzalo García-Pelayo (Spain)

Ocaña Freedom Award
Skin Deep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Schaad
film profile] - Alex Schaad (Germany)

AAMMA Women in Focus Award
Blue Jean - Georgia Oakley

15th University of Seville European Film Award-Cinematographic Screenplay - Fiction
En recuerdo de Lupi - Silvia Mares García  

15th University of Seville European Film Award-Cinematographic Screenplay - Non-fiction
Erosión - Jesús Minchón Rodicio

(Translated from Spanish by Alexandra Stephens)