14/11/2005

After an agitated weekend – with the Belgian avant-premières of Alex de la Iglesia's Crimen Ferpecto and Ramón Salazar's 20 cm [+see also:
trailer
film profile], both starring Monica Cervera - the 13th FestCEAL last night delivered its awards.

In the Spanish section, two films, which confirm the talent of Ernesto Alterio, conquered the hearts of the jury. El metodo by Marcelo Piñeyro (read the article) received the Best Spanish Film Award, while Miguel Bardem's Incautos (read the article) won the Support for Distribution Award (3.000€). The film, whose international sales are handled by Latido Films, hasn't yet been bought for distribution in Belgium. In the Latin America section, the Best Film Award went to the Chilean Mi major enenimigo (My worse enemy) by Alex Bowen and Juan Carlos Cremeta Malberti's Viva Cuba won the Support for Distribution Award. The two public awards went to the documentary El tren de la memória (The Train of the Memory) by Marta Arribas and Ana Pérez and to Como mariposas en la luz (Like Butterflies in the light), a Spanish Argentinean co production directed by Diego Yaker.

This years' edition also organised the first official meeting between the ICCA and the Cervantes Institute and six Spanish thematic film festivals from the old continent (FestCEAL of Brussels, Malaga Spanish Film Festival, Manchester VIVA Film Festival, Nantes Spanish Film Festival, Toulouse CineEspaña and Tübingen-Stuttgart Spanish Film). Thanks to their common and complementary goals, these Festivals have decided to create a platform which will lead to an association similar to the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation. Freddy Bozzo (Méliès award jury) and Thibaut Dophie from that federation took part of the meeting, sharing their know-how with the members of the Spanish Festivals. The meeting is to be continued at the Malaga Film Festival (17 – 25 march 2006).