24/11/2025 - The Best Director Award in the same section has gone to Ángel Santos for And So the Night Fell, while Cecilia Verheyden's Skiff triumphed in the Retueyos competition

The international jury of the Official Selection – Albar International Competition of the 63rd Gijón/Xixón International Film Festival (14-22 November), made up of Alexis Juncosa, Eva Llorach, Scott Macaulay, Carlos Marques-Marcet and Sophy Romvari, announced its awards on Saturday. Best Feature went to the Cuban-Spanish co-production To the West, in Zapata [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by David Bim; the AISGE Award for Best Actress to Eszter Tompa, for her work in the Romanian film Kontinental ’25 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; the AISGE Award for Best Actor to British thesp Ben Whishaw for his turn in Peter Hujar’s Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], with a Special Mention for Andranic Manet for his performance in Ari [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile]; and Best Director to Galician filmmaker Ángel Santos for And So the Night Fell, marking his return to feature directing after a decade.

For its part, the FIPRESCI jury of the Official Selection – Retueyos International Competition, made up of Julien Camy, Holger Heiland and Joan Pons Pinac, decided to give out the following awards: Best Feature for Skiff [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Cecilia Verheyden, “for its precise direction and aesthetic mastery while tackling a powerful and essential subject”; and the FIPRESCI Jury Special Prize to the Austrian production Sugarland [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Isabella Brunäcker, “an unpredictable and effective road movie about two lonely characters who meet by chance”, according to the jury statement.

What's more, the international jury of the Official Selection – FICX Premiere International Competition, made up of Lisandro Alonso, Lina Lizardou and Monica Stan, decided to award the Best Feature trophy to the Argentinian flick Los bobos by Sofía Jallinsky and Basovih Marinaro, and the Award for Artistic Contribution to Mare’s Nest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Rivers
film profile] by Ben Rivers.

The Spanish Cinema jury, made up of Iratxe Fresneda, Nila Núñez Urgell and Lilia Scena, presented awards to features produced in Spain and/or directed by Spanish filmmakers. Nothing Personal [+see also:
film review
film profile], the second feature by Javier Marco, was named Best Feature, with a Special Mention for To the West, in Zapata, while Marco himself received the RC Service Award for the Director of the Best Spanish Film. The Dama Award for Best Screenplay of a Spanish Film went to Anxos Fazáns and Ian de la Rosa for The Dashed Lines [+see also:
film review
film profile], and the Amae Award for Best Editing of a Spanish Film went to Federico Delpero for the documentary Amílcar by Miguel Eek.

Lastly, the prizes of the Semilleru professional days were handed out to a clutch of the selected projects, both in development and in post-production. The main awards went to Lend Me Your Eyes (Préstame tus ojos), a documentary by Spanish-Peruvian filmmaker Natalia Grande about her relationship with her own father, in the former category, and to the short film Chapuzón by Spanish-based Argentinian helmer Juan Pedro Somodi, in the latter.

Here is the full list of winners:

Albar Competition

Best Feature
To the West, in Zapata [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - David Bim (Cuba/Spain)

AISGE Award for Best Actress
Eszter Tompa - Kontinental ’25 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Romania)

AISGE Award for Best Actor
Ben Whishaw - Peter Hujar’s Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (USA/Germany)
Special Mention
Andranic Manet - Ari [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile] (France/Belgium)

Best Director
Ángel Santos - And So the Night Fell (Spain)

Retueyos Competition

FIPRESCI Award for Best Feature
Skiff [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Cecilia Verheyden (Belgium/Netherlands/Sweden)

FIPRESCI Jury Special Prize
Sugarland [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Isabella Brunäcker (Austria)

Official Selection - FICX Premiere International Competition

Best Feature
Los bobos - Sofía Jallinsky, Basovih Marinaro (Argentina)

Award for Artistic Contribution
Mare’s Nest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Rivers
film profile] - Ben Rivers (UK/France/Canada)

Short-film Competition

Principality of Asturias Award for Best Short Film
Loynes - Dorian Jespers (Belgium/France/North Macedonia/United Kingdom/Northern Ireland)

Special Mention
1:10 – Sinar Taner (Switzerland)
Si el silencio fuera azul - Gabriela Muñoz Garay, Magdalena Fuenzalida, Benjamín Rojas, María Jesús Cardemil, Marc Pompermayer (Spain)

Other awards

Best Spanish Feature
Nothing Personal [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Javier Marco (Spain/Belgium)
Special Mention
To the West, in Zapata – David Bim

“RC Service” Award for the Director of the Best Spanish Film
Javier Marco – Nothing Personal

Dama Award for Best Screenplay of a Spanish Film
Anxos Fazáns, Ian de la Rosa - The Dashed Lines [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Spain)

Amae Award for Best Editing of a Spanish Film
Federico Delpero - Amílcar (Spain/Portugal/France/Sweden/Cape Verde)

Young Jury Award for Best Feature - Retueyos Competition
Magic Farm - Amalia Ulman (Argentina/USA)

Young Jury Award for Best Short Film
Tolos fueos el fueu - Diego Flórez (Spain)

CIMA Award for Best Feature Directed by a Woman
Love Me Tender [+see also:
film review
interview: Anna Cazenave Cambet
film profile] - Anna Cazenave Cambet (France)
Special Mention
Sorella di Clausura [+see also:
film review
interview: Ivana Mladenović
film profile] - Ivana Mladenović (Romania/Serbia/Italy/Spain)

Best Asturian Feature
Volver a casa tan tarde - Celia Viada Caso

La Noche del Corto Español Competition - Award for Best Short Film
Bariazioak - Lur Olaizola (Spain)

La Noche del Corto Español Competition - Festhome Distribution Award
La diva, mi abuela y yo – Inés G. Aparicio (Spain)

Enfants Terribles Award for Best Feature
Le Grand Noël des animaux - Camille Alméras, Ceylan Beyoğlu, Caroline Attia, Olesya Shchukina, Haruna Kishi, Natalia Chernysheva (France/Germany)

Rambal Award (XEGA)
The Dashed Lines - Anxos Fazáns

Grand Audience Award
Made in EU [+see also:
film review
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile] - Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria/Germany/Czech Republic)

Tierres en Trance Audience Award
The Bewilderment of Chile - Lucía Seles (Argentina)

Europa/Film Festivals – Europa Joven Award
Love Letters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Alice Douard (France)

Asturies Curtiumetraxes Competition - RTPA Award for Best Short Film
Alimaña - Juan Villa (Spain)

Asturies Curtiumetraxes Competition - RTPA Special Mention
Una mujer que conocí llamada Yudita – Rodrigo Agüeria (Spain)

Asturies Curtiumetraxes Competition - Laboral Cinemateca Cortos Distribution Award
Cases - Jandro Llaneza (Spain)

Principality of Asturias New Filmmakers Award for a Project
Pasar l’agua – Pablo Casanueva

Movistar Plus+ Short Film Award for a Project
Trella – Miguel Guindos
Production: Kabiria Films

Semilleru Lab

Projects in development

Semilleru Lab Development Award
Lend Me Your Eyes (Préstame tus ojos) - Natalia Grande
Production: Andrea Mateu (Aire de Cinema, Tambo Film)

Impulso ECAM Award
/Fame/ - Rodrigo Agüeria

Incoproduction Award
Your Way (A tu manera) - Paula Costa
Production: Aquí y Allí Films

Projects in post-production

Award for (Post-)Production
Splash (Chapuzón) - Juan Pedro Somodi
Production: Juan Pedro Somodi (Paola Á. Filmproduktion, 6866 Films)

SUBTITULAM Award
Lecho de pasto - Carmela Román
Production: Rami García (Mala Pécora Films)

WELAW Award
Lecho de pasto - Carmela Román

(Translated from Spanish)