16/12/2024 - The Human Hibernation has taken home the Audience Award from the gathering, which this year featured a retrospective dedicated to France’s Maxime Martinot

l-r: Directors Lorena Alvarado, Jean-Jacques Martinod and Anna Cornudella during the awards ceremony (© Novos Cinemas)

The ninth edition of the Novos Cinemas Pontevedra International Film Festival (10-15 December) once again boasted a stimulating and distinguished programme made up of a small batch of feature debuts and sophomore films hailing from all over the world. The opening and closing sessions were once again devoted to Galician cinema: The Rim [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Alberto Gracia was screened as the opening film, following its participation in the Tiger Competition at IFFR and in Valladolid’s Seminci, while Te separas mucho, the feature debut by Paula Veleiro, which got an airing at Gijón recently, brought proceedings to a close.

Adding to the regular Official Section and Latexos strands, this year, the festival introduced Ceres, a new competitive section intended to promote works developed in educational and training centres in Spain and Portugal. Furthermore, in line with its mission of discovering new, emerging voices with a solid body of work, the Novos Cinemas programme included the first focus ever dedicated to Breton filmmaker Maxime Martinot (Trois contes de Borges [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) as well as various training activities and professional meetings.

The international jury, comprising director Adrián Canoura as well as researchers and programmers Daniel Maciel and Vanessa Badagliacca, handed the Novos Cinemas Award for Best Feature in the Official Section to Eastern Anthems by Matthew Wolkow and Jean-Jacques Martinod, “for the sublime way in which it navigates and combines different visual languages, weaving a polyphonic human web that embraces fate, mistakes and risk-taking”. The road movie taking the form of an epistolary essay, which reflects on the post-pandemic present and future, also picked up the Best Director Award handed out by the youth jury, for the “elegant and meticulous work in every part of the film, making it a remarkable piece”.

The other big winner was Venezuela’s Los capítulos perdidos by Lorena Alvarado, which took home a Special Mention from the Official Jury and the Award of the Critics’ Jury, made up of Emilio Luna, Mariana Freijomil and Xavier Montoriol.

Meanwhile, the Latexos jury, which included Spanish exhibitors Iria Silvosa (NUMAX), Javier Pachón (CineCiutat) and Sergio Casteleiro (DUPLEX), opted to award the prize in that section, dedicated to films that are particularly daring with their film language, to Los reinos by Honduran helmer Manuel Muñoz. The award in the new Ceres section was bestowed upon Configuración de un umbral by Paolo Natale, Daniel Rodríguez and Sandra del Moral Abolafia. Lastly, Catalonian director Anna Cornudella went home with the Audience Award at the ninth edition for her dystopian The Human Hibernation [+see also:
film review
interview: Anna Cornudella
film profile], which previously picked up the FIPRESCI Award in the Forum section of the Berlinale.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Novos Cinemas Award
Eastern Anthems – Matthew Wolkow, Jean-Jacques Martinod (Canada/USA/Ecuador)

Special Mention of the Jury
Los capítulos perdidos – Lorena Alvarado (Venezuela)

Youth Jury Award for Best Director
Eastern Anthems – Matthew Wolkow, Jean-Jacques Martinod
Special Mention
Los capítulos perdidos – Lorena Alvarado

Latexos Award
Los reinos – Manuel Muñoz (Argentina/Honduras/Germany)

Ceres Award
Configuración de un umbral – Paolo Natale, Daniel Rodríguez, Sandra del Moral Abolafia (Spain)
Special Mention
Al mirar a lo lejos – Marta Lara Pérez (Spain)

Critics’ Award
Los capítulos perdidos – Lorena Alvarado

Audience Award
The Human Hibernation [+see also:
film review
interview: Anna Cornudella
film profile] – Anna Cornudella (Spain)

(Translated from Spanish)