26/03/2018 - Marco Martins’ drama has won in seven categories, including Best Film, Director and Lead Actor, for Nuno Lopes

Last night, Marco Martins’ feature Saint George [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Martins
film profile] was the big winner of the Sophia Awards, Portugal’s national film prizes handed out by the Academy of Portuguese Film. The ceremony, held in Estoril, was marked by vigorous speeches railing against the dire working conditions in the cultural sector.

Besides Best Film, Saint George, which was shot in the working-class neighbourhoods of Lisbon during the troika years, also scooped six other trophies: Best Director, Best Actor (Nuno Lopes), Best Supporting Actor (José Raposo), Best Original Script, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. In an emotional speech, Lopes recalled that the film was produced at the peak of the austerity years but underlined, “We are not clear of the crisis years yet,” subsequently touching on the unclear financing schemes for films and the delays regularly encountered during the funding process. He also demanded an increase in the culture budget, requesting that it be a higher proportion of the state budget.

One of the most critically acclaimed titles from last year, Pedro Pinho’s The Nothing Factory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Pinho
film profile], snagged the Sophias for Best Editing and Best Adapted Script. Rita Blanco won the Best Actress trophy for her role in the ensemble cast of João Canijo’s Fátima [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Meanwhile, the Achievement Prizes were given to make-up artist Ana Lorena, director and critic Lauro António, and animation director Artur Correia, who passed away recently.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Film
Saint George [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Martins
film profile] – Marco Martins (Portugal/France)

Best Director
Marco Martins – Saint George

Best Actor
Nuno Lopes – Saint George

Best Actress
Rita Blanco – Fátima [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Portugal/France)

Best Supporting Actor
José Raposo – Saint George

Best Supporting Actress
Isabel Abreu – Letters

Best Original Script
Ricardo Adolfo, Marco Martins – Saint George 

Best Adapted Script
Pedro Pinho, Luisa Homem, Leonor Noivo, Tiago Hespanha – The Nothing Factory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Pinho
film profile]

Best Cinematography
Carlos Lopes – Saint George

Best Sound
Pedro Melo, Elsa Ferreira, Branko Neskov – Al Berto [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vicente Alves do Ó
film profile]

Best Editing
Cláudia Oliveira, Edgar Feldman, Luísa Homem – The Nothing Factory

Best Make-up
Rita Castro, Felipe Muiron - Peregrinação [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Best Art Direction
Wayne dos Santos – Saint George

Best Special Effects
Nuno Esteves “Blue” – Peregrinação

Best Costumes
Sílvia Grabowski – Zeus (Portugal/Algeria/France)

Best Original Score
Rita Redshoes and The Legendary Tigerman - Ornamento e Crime (Portugal/Brazil)

Best Original Song
“Fim” by Lúcia Moniz – Letters

Best Documentary
Nos Interstícios da Realidade ou o Cinema de António de Macedo – João Monteiro

Best TV Series/TV film
Madre Paula

Student Sophia Award
Snooze – Dinis Leal Machado (ESMAD)

Best Short Film
Coelho Mau – Carlos Conceição

Best Animated Short Film
A Gruta De Darwin - Joana Toste

Best Documentary Short Film
O Homem Eterno - Luís Costa