“Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World,” from Romania’s Radu Jude, added to its ever larger silverware collection, winning the top Albar Award at Spain’s Gijón Festival.
Gijón’s big win join not only a Special Jury Prize at August’s Locarno Film Festival, where the film was the most talked about – one of Jude’s aims– and lauded of competition titles among reviewers, plus a Chicago Silver Hugo best performance nod (Ilinca Manolache) in October and a Lisbon Fest Jury Prize late last month.
Over 61 editions, and most especially when José Luis Cienfuegos, now Valladolid chief, took over its reins in 1995, the Gijón-Xijón Film Festival (FICX) has carved out an identity as highlighting edgier international auteurs and indie fare, moving into promoting often more singular movies from a burgeoning new generation of Spanish filmmakers, greeted with enthusiasm by discerning and predominantly YA audiences drawn from other whole of Spain.
Hailed by PvNew as a “a brilliantly bizarre work-culture satire,” and following on Jude’s 2021 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” “Do Not Expect” latest wins will bolster Jude’s status as one of the now highest-profile of Romanian auteurs, 15 years or so after Romanian cinema burst onto the scene thanks to a carefully coordinated marketing operation by Wild Bunch at 2007’s Cannes Festival and a Palme d’Or among three prizes for Cristian Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.”
Gijón’s 12-feature main competition featured Spain premieres of Cannes Palme d’Or contenders “Homecoming” from Catherine Corsini, and Catherine Breillat’s “Last Summer,” as well as Barbet Schroeder’ Locarno premiere “Ricardo and Painting,” Stephan Komandarev’s Karlovy Vary winner “Blaga’s Lessons” and Lisandro Alonso’s Cannes Premiere bow “Eureka.”
Many of these films challenge audiences, which could also be said of the Retueyos section, reserved for more formally out-there first-to-third features. Its top plaudit went to Selma Deborac’s “De Facto, which also scored 2023 Berlin’s Caligary award and Sarajevo’s Heart of Sarajevo best documentary.
Deborac’s sophomore outing, after “Those Shocking Shaking Days,” the unconventional doc feature explores cinema violence.
“The most important in today’s world is that the festival has reached that place that attracts and engages audiences, crowding theatres with a unique type of cinema,” said Spanish director Juan Vicente Córdoba (“A golpes”) a Retueyos jury member.“Gijon highlights auteurist voices, and extreme ones at that, added another Retueyos juror, San Sebastian winning helmer Pilar Palomero (“La Maternal”).
Tierres en Trance Award, in a selection showcasing sophisticated social issue cinema from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, went to “Los restos del pasar,” from Spain’s Luis (Soto) Muñoz and Alfredo Picazo, in which an aged painter narrator remembers back to his childhood in Córdoba, to which he yearns to return.
Illustrious French cinematographer Agnès Godard, DP to Claire Denis, Agnès Varda and Wim Wenders, attended Gijón to receive an honorary award, and stress the singularity of approach of auteurs, being gender distinctions. “When I see something that I really like, especially from young people, I try to reach out to them and talk about that project, and how they work” said Godard. “I think that this is really enriching and opens doors, and teaches how everyone has different ways of working,” she said.
An ever more active industry arm, Semilleru, FICX Gijón Lab, hosted one-on-one meetings and masterclasses. Gijón’s short film competition looks to promote both new-talent and local-talent.TheAsturias Paraíso Natural Film Commission, which has hosted two big 2024 platform titles, gave an award for postproduction. The move comes as a new high-speed train connection shortening by more than hour and a half, times from Madrid to Gijón, looks set to attract several companies to Asturias, backing local talent and building industry.
The 61st edition of the Gijón Festival ran Nov. 12-Nov. 24. A full list of winners:
Main Competition
Best Feature Film
“Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World” (Radu Jude (Romania, France, Croatia)
Distribution Award
“Eureka” (Lisandro Alonso, France, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, Mexico)
Jury Special Mention
“Last Summer” (Catherine Breillat, France)
Retueyos
Best Feature Film
“De Facto” (Selma Doborac, Austria, Germany)
Distribution Award
“Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” (Elene Naveriani, Georgia, Switzerland)
Aisge Best Actress Award
Eka Chavleishvili (“Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry”)
Aisge Best Actor Award
Tempo Chinchinadze (“Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry”)
Youth Jury, Best Film Award
“Midwives” (Léa Fehner, France)
Youth Jury ,Special Mention
“Locals” (Måns Nyman, Sweden)
Tierres En Trance
FIPRESCI Award Best Feature Film
“Los restos del pasar” (Luis (Soto) Muñoz, Alfredo Picazo, Spain)
Acción! Spanish Directors Association Best Directing Award
María Aparicio (“Las cosas indefinidas,” Argentina)
61th FICX Honorific Award
Agnès Godard
Principado de Asturias Award, Best Short Film Award
“Blow!” (Neus Ballús, Spain)
Principado de Asturias Award, Special Mention
“Gregoria” (Celia Viada Caso, Spain)
Youth Jury Best Short Film
“2720” (Basil da Cunha, Portugal Switzerland)
61th FICX Spanish Jury, Best Spanish Feature Film
“On the Go” (María Gisèle Royo, Julia de Castro, Spain)
Rcservice Spanish Jury Award Best Feature Film
María Gisèle Royo, Julia de Castro (“On the Go,” Spain)
Spanish Jury Special Mention
“Los restos del pasar” (Luis (Soto) Muñoz, Alfredo Picazo, Spain)
Dama Award Best Spanish Screenplay
Ariadna Fortuny y Cláudia Garcia de Dios (“Un sol radiant,” Spain)
Dama Award Special Mention
Samu Fuentes (“Los Últimos Pastores, Spain)
AMAE Award Best Editing
Rafael Cano (“Los restos del pasar,” Spain)
DCP DELUXE Award
María Gisèle Royo, Julia de Castro (“On the Go,” Spain)
CIMA Award Best Woman Director Feature Film
“Las cosas indefinidas,” (María Aparicio, Argentina)
RTPA Asturias Best Feature Film Award
“Los últimos pastores” (Samu Fuentes, Spain)
RTPA Asturias Best Feature Film, Special Mention
“Il Mulín” (Álex Galán, Spain)
RTPA Asturies Curtiumetraxes Award
“Les Praeres” (Iván Menéndez, Spain)
RTPA Asturies Curtiumetraxes Special Mention
“Los trazos que quedan de tí,” (Lía Lugilde, Spain)
Laboral Cinemateca Shortfilm Award
“Les Praeres” (Iván Menéndez, Spain)
Enfants Terribles Best Feature Film
“Katak, la pequeña ballena” (Christine Dallaire-Dupont, Nicola Lemay, Canada)
Grand Audience Award
“El Amigo de Todos” (José Antonio Quirós, Spain)
Tierres en Trance Audience Distribution Award
“La prisión de mi padre” (Iván Simonovis Pertíñez, Venezuela, Czech Republic)
Europe Film Festivals – Young Europe Award
“El cine, 5” (Elisa Cepedal, Spain)
Principado de Asturias New Directors Award
“Una lluz” (Diego Flórez, Spain)
Proyecto Corto Movistar+ / Pecera Studio 2023 Award
“In Memoriam” (Teresa Bellón)
Youth Jury Best Short Film
“2720” (Basil da Cunha, Portugal Switzerland)
Semilleru Development LAB
Premio Semillero Lab Asturias Paraíso Natural Film Commission
“As defensas” (Lucía Estévez)
FicxLAB Residency
“Dónde estés será mi hogar” (Lionel Braverman)
Taskovski Award
“San Dai Shi Guang” (Jiajie Yu Yan)
SEMILLERU Postproduction LAB
Semilleru Lab Award
“Estados generales” (Mauricio Freyre)
“Auspicia*” (María Royo)
Open ECAM Award
“Leandro Flores” (Mateo Kesselman)
DCP Deluxe SEMILLERU Lab Award
“Deuses de pedra” (Iván Castiñeiras)
Subtitulam Award
“El exilio del viento” (Andreu Corberá)
MECAS Award
“Auspicia*” (María Royo)
John Hopewell contributed to this article.
