MAGICAL GIRL

MAGICAL GIRL, the new film from Carlos Vermut (Diamond Flash), won the GOLDEN SHELL FOR BEST FILM at the 62 San Sebastian Festival.  Director Carlos Vermut also took the award SILVER SHELL FOR BEST DIRECTOR.  MAGICAL GIRL is described as a tale of crossed destinies starring José Sacristán, Bárbara Lennie and Luis Bermejo. Alicia, an ailing child who dreams of the dress in the Japanese series Magical Girl Yukiko; Luis, her father, who will do anything he can to make her dream come true; Bárbara, a pretty young girl with psychological issues; and Damián, a teacher who has retired from everything except his stormy past. All will be trapped in a net of obscure blackmailing where instincts and reason spar with one another in a tragic struggle.

62 San Sebastian Festival awards list 

GOLDEN SHELL FOR BEST FILM
MAGICAL GIRL
CARLOS VERMUT (SPAIN – FRANCE)

The new film from Carlos Vermut (Diamond Flash) is a tale of crossed destinies starring José Sacristán, Bárbara Lennie and Luis Bermejo. Alicia, an ailing child who dreams of the dress in the Japanese series Magical Girl Yukiko; Luis, her father, who will do anything he can to make her dream come true; Bárbara, a pretty young girl with psycholgical issues; and Damián, a teacher who has retired from everything except his stormy past. All will be trapped in a net of obscure blackmailing where instincts and reason spar with one another in a tragic struggle.

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
VIE SAUVAGE / WILD LIFE
CÉDRIC KAHN (FRANCE)

The new film by French director Cédric Kahn focusses on Philippe Fournier, a man who lives with his 2 sons, having decided not to give them back to their mother after she won custody of the children. The children Okyesa and Tsali must grow up in the shadow, hunted by the police but always free and on the move.

SILVER SHELL FOR BEST DIRECTOR – CARLOS VERMUT
MAGICAL GIRL
CARLOS VERMUT (SPAIN – FRANCE)

The new film from Carlos Vermut (Diamond Flash) is a tale of crossed destinies starring José Sacristán, Bárbara Lennie and Luis Bermejo. Alicia, an ailing child who dreams of the dress in the Japanese series Magical Girl Yukiko; Luis, her father, who will do anything he can to make her dream come true; Bárbara, a pretty young girl with psycholgical issues; and Damián, a teacher who has retired from everything except his stormy past. All will be trapped in a net of obscure blackmailing where instincts and reason spar with one another in a tragic struggle.

SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTRESS – PAPRIKA STEEN
STILLE HJERTE / SILENT HEART
BILLE AUGUST (DENMARK)

The prestigious Danish filmmaker Bille August, winner of an Academy Award and two Palme d’Or in Cannes, returns with a highly personal drama. Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother’s decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.

SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTOR – JAVIER GUTIÉRREZ
LA ISLA MÍNIMA (MARSHLAND)
ALBERTO RODRÍGUEZ (SPAIN)

Alberto Rodríguez (Grupo 7) returns to film noir with this thriller starring Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez and Antonio de la Torre. Two cops, ideologically miles apart, are reprimanded and sent as punishment to a remote town in the swamps to investigate the disappearance of two teenagers. There they will measure their wits against a savage killer in a community anchored to the past.

JURY PRIZE FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – ALEX CATALÁN
LA ISLA MÍNIMA (MARSHLAND)
ALBERTO RODRÍGUEZ (SPAIN)

Alberto Rodríguez (Grupo 7) returns to film noir with this thriller starring Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez and Antonio de la Torre. Two cops, ideologically miles apart, are reprimanded and sent as punishment to a remote town in the swamps to investigate the disappearance of two teenagers. There they will measure their wits against a savage killer in a community anchored to the past.

JURY PRIZE FOR BEST SCREENPLAY – DENNIS LEHANE
THE DROP
MICHAËL R. ROSKAM (USA)

In his Hollywood debut, Belgian filmmaker Michaël R. Roskam (Bullhead) adapts a novel by Dennis Lehane in a film starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini in his last role for the cinema.The Drop takes an inside look at organized crime’s use of local New York City bars as money-laundering “drops”. When lonely Brooklyn bartender Bob Saginowski uncovers a drop of a different sort in the form of a battered pit bull puppy that he rescues from certain death, he comes into contact with Nadia, a mysterious woman hiding a dark past. 

KUTXA-NEW DIRECTORS AWARD
UROK / THE LESSON
KRISTINA GROZEVA, PETAR VALCHANOV (BULGARIA – GREECE)

In a small Bulgarian town, Nadezhda, a young teacher, tries to find out which of her students is stealing in class, so that she can teach them the difference between right and wrong. But when she finds herself in debt to moneylenders, will she know the right road to take? What happens when an honest person turns into a criminal?

SPECIAL MENTION
MODRIS
JURIS KURSIETIS (LATVIA – GREECE – GERMANY)

 Unable to deal with her teenage son, the boy’s mother turns him in for a small crime. But a teenager’s life cannot handle police probation. Based on true events.

HORIZONTES AWARD
GÜEROS
ALONSO RUIZPALACIOS (MEXICO)

A road movie and coming of age comedy which pays homage to the French new wave, winner of Panorama’s First Feature Award in Berlin Film Festival and of Best Cinematography Award and Special Jury Mention in Tribeca Festival. Since the teenager Tomás is clearly too much of a handful for his mother, she packs him off to stay with his big brother who is studying in Mexico City.Tomás has brought a cassette along with him; the tape is part of his father’s legacy and contains the music of Epigmenio Cruz. When the trio learns that their idol is in hospital fading fast and alone, they set off in their rusty heap of a car to pay their last respects to this one-time rock star.

SPECIAL MENTION
CIENCIAS NATURALES (NATURAL SCIENCES)
MATÍAS LUCCHESI (ARGENTINA – FRANCE)

Presented in the Generation section of the Berlin Festival and winner of the Award for Best Ibero-American Film at the Guadalajara Festival, the first film by Matías Luchesi revolves around a girl who, starting to become a woman, feels the profound need to discover her true identity. She does not know who her father is and she is determined to find him.

GENTE DE BIEN
FRANCO LOLLI (FRANCE – COLOMBIA)

The feature film debut of Franco Lolli, following several short films to have won awards at several festivals, was presented in the Critics’ Week at Cannes. Ten year-old Eric finds himself almost overnight living with Gabriel, his father, who he barely knows. Maria Isabel, the woman Gabriel works for as a carpenter, decides to help and invites them both to the country to spend Christmas with her and her family. However, she fails to foresee all the consequences of taking the child under her wing.

IRIZAR BASQUE FILM AWARD
NEGOCIADOR (NEGOTIATOR)
BORJA COBEAGA (SPAIN)

Borja Cobeaga’s new comedy stars Manu Aranguren, a Basque politician who acts as a mediator for the Spanish government in its negotiations with ETA. Far from being a solemn, calculated occasion, unexpected occurrences, slip-ups or misunderstandings soon kick in to influence the dialogue. Ramón Barea, Carlos Areces and Josean Bengoetxea headline the cast. 

TVE – ANOTHER LOOK AWARD
BANDE DE FILLES (GIRLHOOD)
CÉLINE SCIAMMA (FRANCE)

Céline Sciamma (Tomboy) presented this film at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of 3 free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her dress code, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping that this will be a way to freedom.

SPECIAL MENTION
GETT, THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM
RONIT ELKABETZ, SHLOMI ELKABETZ (ISRAEL – FRANCE – GERMANY)

Civil marriages don’t exist in Israel; only religious law is legitimate, under which divorce is only possible with the husband’s full consent. A film about a woman’s struggle to obtain what she considers to be a right. Presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes.