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SITGES 2024 Awards

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s The Devil’s Bath triumphs at Sitges

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- The Austrian-German film secured top prize in the Official Fantastic Competition alongside two other gongs, with the Special Jury Award going to Jang Jae-hyun’s Exhuma

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s The Devil’s Bath triumphs at Sitges
Directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz at the Sitges Film Festival (© Sitges Film Festival)

The 57th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival drew to a close by handing out its prizes on Saturday, which included awards for the winning films from four strands, picks from the critics’ jury, the people’s choice awards and more. The Austrian-German historical horror flick The Devil’s Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
film profile
]
(which premiered in the Berlinale’s main competition earlier this year) by Austrian duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala was crowned as the winner of the Official Fantastic Competition. The film also received two other gongs, including the José Luis Guarner Critics' Award for Best Film, given out by the Catalan Association of Cinematographic Critics and Writers, and the Carnet Jove (European Youth Card) Jury Award for Best Feature Film.

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This year’s Official Fantastic Jury was composed of Lisa Dreyer (festival director, Fantastic Fest), Stephen Thrower (author of books on horror cinema), Christophe Gans, Fred Dekker (cult classic writer-director of The Monster Squad) and Carlota Pereda (writer-director of Piggy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlota Pereda
film profile
]
). The jury also presented the Korean supernatural horror-mystery Exhuma by Jang Jae-hyun, which also premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year, but in the Forum section, with the Special Jury Award.

In the Noves Visions section, dedicated to films exhibiting experimentation, and playing with genre, format and language, Grazia Tricarico claimed Best Direction for her Italian-Swiss debut feature, Body Odyssey [+see also:
film review
interview: Grazia Tricarico
film profile
]
. The Méliès d’Argent Awards were bestowed upon Emma Benestan’s Animale [+see also:
film review
interview: Emma Benestan
film profile
]
and Eros V’s Meat Puppet, respectively. These prizes are given to the best European feature and short fantastic films of the festival by the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), a network of 29 genre film festivals in 21 different countries.

Camila Beltrán’s Colombian-French Mi bestia [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, which premiered earlier this year in Cannes’ ACID parallel section, scooped the Blood Window Award for best Ibero-American film. JT Mollner’s Strange Darling received the People’s Choice Award for the Official Fantastic Competition, while John Hanchiang Hsu’s Dead Talents Society took home two People’s Choice trophies for best film in the Sitges Collection strand and the Focus Asia Award (best Asian film).

Two European short films, Matúš Vizár’s Free the Chickens (Best Animated Short Film) and Félix Dobaire’s Chew (Best Short Film from the Official Fantastic Competition, as awarded by the critics’ jury), will be automatically eligible for the Academy Awards.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Official Fantastic Competition

Best Feature Film
The Devil’s Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
film profile
]
– Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala (Austria/Germany)

Special Jury Award
Exhuma – Jang Jae-hyun (South Korea)

Best Direction
Soi Cheang – Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Hong Kong)

Best Actress
Kristine Froseth - Desert Road (USA)

Best Actor (ex-aequo)
John Lithgow – The Rule of Jenny Pen (New Zealand)
Geoffery Rush – The Rule of Jenny Pen

Best Screenplay
Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man (USA)

Best Special, Visual or Makeup Effects
Digital District, Machina Infinitum – Else [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(France/Belgium)

Best Music
Die Hexen – Fréwaka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aislinn Clarke
film profile
]
(Ireland)

Best Cinematography
Giovanni Ribisi – Strange Darling (USA)

Noves Visions

Best Feature Film
A Desert – Joshua Erkman (USA)

Best Direction
Grazia Tricarico – Body Odyssey [+see also:
film review
interview: Grazia Tricarico
film profile
]
(Italy/Switzerland)

Best Short Film
Say Wuff! – Fabian Podeszwa (Germany)

Noves Visions - Nova Autoria

SGAE Nova Autoria Award for Best Direction-Production (ex-aequo)
Blava Terra – Marine Auclair (Spain)
Passed/Mother – Benjamin Hindrichs (Spain)

SGAE Nova Autoria Award for Best Original Music
Yuliya Protasova – De-Sastre (Spain)

Anima’t

Best Animated Feature Film
Memoir of a Snail – Adam Elliot (Australia)

Best Animated Short Film
Free the Chickens – Matúš Vizár (Slovakia/Czech Republic)

Òrbita

Best Feature Film
Zero – Jean Luc Herbulot (USA)

Brigadoon

Brigadoon Paul Naschy Award for Best Short Film 
Céntrico – Luso Martinez (Spain)

Other awards

Méliès d’Argent Awards

Best European Fantastic Genre Feature Film
Animale [+see also:
film review
interview: Emma Benestan
film profile
]
– Emma Benestan (France)

Best European Fantastic Genre Short Film
Meat Puppet – Eros V (UK)

Blood Window Award for Best Ibero-American Production

Best Feature Film
Mi bestia [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
– Camila Beltrán (Colombia/France)

Critics’ Jury Awards

José Luis Guarner Critics' Award for Best Film
The Devil’s Bath – Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala

Citizen Kane Award for Best New Director 
Thibault Emin – Else

Best Short Film in the Official Fantastic Competition
Chew – Félix Dobaire (France)

Carnet Jove (European Youth Card) Jury

Best Feature Film in the Official Fantastic Competition
The Devil’s Bath – Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala

Best Sitges Documenta Film
Grand Theft Hamlet [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
– Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane (UK)

People’s Choice Awards

Grand People's Choice Award for Best Film - Official Fantastic Competition
Strange Darling – JT Mollner (USA)

People’s Choice Award for Best Film - Panorama section
Handsome Guys – Dong-Hyub Nam (South Korea)

People’s Choice Award for Best Film - Sitges Collection section
Dead Talents Society – John Hanchiang Hsu (Taiwan)

People’s Choice Award for Best Film - Midnight X-treme section
Die Alone – Lowell Dean (Canada)

Focus Asia People’s Choice Award
Dead Talents Society – John Hanchiang Hsu

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