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LAS PALMAS 2019 Awards

The Portuguese Woman emerges triumphant at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival

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- Rita Azevedo Gomes’ feature has taken home the Golden Lady Harimaguada, while Víctor Moreno’s The Hidden City was the winner of the competition for films from the Canary Islands

The Portuguese Woman emerges triumphant at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival
Director Rita Azevedo Gomes during her visit to the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival (© Tony Hernández/FICLPG)

The 19th Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival (22-31 March) has revealed the names of the winners of its various competitions after bringing its third MECAS (International Market Dedicated to Almost-finished Films) to a close (see the news).

A total of 12 movies were presented before the official section jury, made up of Eva Vila (Penélope [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Ela BittencourtCarlos Reviriego and Cédric Succivalli. Said jury handed the Golden Lady Harimaguada to The Portuguese Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rita Azevedo Gomes
film profile
]
 by Lisbon native Rita Azevedo Gomes, for “the auteur’s rigour, lucidity and sensitivity in allowing classicism and modernity to co-exist in an unusual historical story”.

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In addition, the Chinese feature The Fragile House by Lin Zi scooped the second prize, or the Silver Lady Harimaguada. The jury also bestowed a Special Mention upon the Lesothan-Qatari co-production Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, which was recently acquired by international sales agent Stray Dogs. The Best Actor Award was granted to the three male leads in By the Grace of God [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: François Ozon
film profile
]
by François OzonMelvil PoupaudDenis Ménochet and Swann Arlaud. The Best Actress gong was also split between two thesps: it went to Snezana Bogdanović for her performance in Stitches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miroslav Terzić
film profile
]
 by Serbia’s Miroslav Terzić, and to Zita Hanrot for her turn in Paul Sanchez Is Back! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by France’s Patricia Mazuy.

The gathering also boasted a special competition dedicated to productions from the Canary Islands, called Canarias Cinema, the jury for which – comprising Andrea GuzmánAnnamaria Scaramella and Manuel Zapata – gave the Richard Leacock Award for Best Feature to the Spanish-French-German co-production The Hidden City [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Víctor Moreno
film profile
]
 by Víctor Moreno. The feature-length documentary Searching for Oscar [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Octavio Guerra pocketed a Special Mention, while 300 Todo incluido by Pablo Fajardo snagged the Best Short Film Award.

Finally, the short-film competition jury crowned Emmanuel Marre’s effort D’un château l’autre and bestowed a Special Mention upon Blessed Land by Pham Ngoc Lan. The prize given out by Canarian audiovisual production house Digital 104 Film Distribution went to the short film Mi profesora de salsa by Rafael Navarro Miñón. The Association of Female Filmmakers and Women in Audiovisual Media (CIMA) opted to award the screenwriter of StitchesElma Tataragic, as well as its lead actress, Snezana Bogdanovich. Stitches also picked up the Audience Award. 

Here is the complete list of award winners:

Feature-film Competition

Golden Lady Harimaguada
The Portuguese Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rita Azevedo Gomes
film profile
]
 – Rita Azevedo Gomes (Portugal)

Silver Lady Harimaguada
The Fragile House – Lin Zi (China)

Best Actor Award
Melvil Poupaud, Denis Menochet, Swann Arlaud – By the Grace of God [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: François Ozon
film profile
]
(France/Belgium) 

Best Actress Award (split)
Snezana Bogdanovich – Stitches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miroslav Terzić
film profile
]
 (Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Zita Hanrot – Paul Sanchez Is Back! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (France)

Jury Special Mention
Mother I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You – Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (Lesotho/Qatar)

Short-film Competition

Best International Short Film Award
D’un château l’autre – Emmanuel Marre (France/Belgium)

Special Mention for Best International Short Film
Blessed Land – Pham Ngoc Lan (Vietnam)

Canarias Cinema Competition

Richard Leacock Award for Best Feature
The Hidden City [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Víctor Moreno
film profile
]
 – Víctor Moreno (Spain/France/Germany)

Richard Leacock Award for Best Feature Special Mention
Searching for Oscar [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – Octavio Guerra (Spain)

Richard Leacock Award for Best Short Film
300 Todo incluido – Pablo Fajardo (Spain)

Digital 104 Film Distribution International Distribution Award
Mi profesora de salsa – Rafael Navarro Miñón (Spain)

Other prizes

CIMA Awards
Elma Tataragic, Snezana Bogdanovich – Stitches

Audience Award 
Stitches – Miroslav Terzic

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(Translated from Spanish)

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