19/10/2015 - The movie by Karyn Kusama has been declared Best Film, followed up by fellow US title The Final Girls, which won the Special Jury Prize and Best Screenplay

The Invitation, an independent US film about a reunion of old friends, sects and pain, directed by Karyn Kusama, was named as Best Film in the official section of the 2015 Sitges Film Festival, which came to a close yesterday in the Catalan coastal town. The Special Jury Prize and the Best Screenplay Award went to The Final Girls, the second film by New York-born director Todd Strauss-Schulson, while novelist-turned-filmmaker S Craig Zahler was chosen as Best Director for his western Bone Tomahawk (USA), also snagging the José Luis Guarner Critics’ Award.

The Best Actress Award went to very young Belgian actress Pili Groyne, who put on a superb performance as God’s rebellious daughter in The Brand New Testament [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaco van Dormael
film profile] (which also pocketed the Silver Méliès Award for Best European Fantastic Film), while the Best Actor Award went to the other side of the world: Joel Edgerton won it for The Gift, a co-production between Australia and the United States that also marks his debut as a feature-film director. The post-apocalyptic Turbo Kids (Canada-New Zealand) went home with two trophies: Best Soundtrack and the Young Jury’s Best Film. The Citizen Kane Award for Best New Director went to Stephen Fingleton for The Survivalist [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (United Kingdom).

The audience opted for I Am a Hero (which also won Best Special Effects) by Japanese director Shinsuke Sato, Best Cinematography was bestowed upon Demon [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Poland/Israel) by Marcin Wrona, and Best Short Film was the Spanish title They Will All Die in Space, directed by Javier Chillón.

In the other sections, we must mention the awards won by European movies such as Slow West [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: John Maclean
film profile] (Best Director in Fantastic Orbita for British filmmaker John Maclean), Men & Chicken [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Special Mention in Noves Visions One for this co-production between Denmark and Germany, directed by Anders Thomas Jensen) and Anabel by Madrilenian Antonio Trashorras, which bagged the Best Film Award in Noves Visions Plus.

(Translated from Spanish)