17/11/2008

The 5th Seville European Film Festival closed on Saturday with the Golden Giraldillo for Best Film going to Sólveig Anspach’s French/Icelandic co-production Back Soon [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The Seville event – which focuses on the best European films of the past year – lasted nine days, during which the nominees for the EFA Awards (see news) were announced and the EUFCN general meeting was held.

The Silver Giraldillo was presented to Mijke de Jong’s Dutch film Katia’s Sister [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The Special Jury and Special Audience Awards went to two very different European films that have both enjoyed immense success over the past year. The audience honoured Dany Boon’s hit French comedy Welcome to the Sticks [+see also:
trailer
film profile], while the jury crowned Matteo Garrone’s Italian title Gomorrah [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Domenico Procacci
interview: Jean Labadie
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile], which is a harsh portrait of today’s Neapolitan mafia.

Another Italian film – Paolo Sorrentino’s French co-production Il Divo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicola Giuliano
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
interview: Philippe Desandre
film profile] – picked up the Eurimages Prize. Meanwhile, Swiss/French/Russian co-production The Mother, by Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostomarov, scooped the Eurodoc Award for Best Documentary.

On Friday, November 14, EUFCN – which represents 61 film commissions from 21 European countries – held its general meeting. EUFCN secretary general Patrick Lamassoure commented: “There is still much to be done so that producers and directors make full use of the wide range of free services offered by the film commissions”.

He continued: “If we consider the growing number of features, TV dramas and series made as European co-productions, the members of the European Film Commissions often feel they are true partners, rather than competitors”.

(Translated from Spanish)