After a hugely successful 69^th edition of the San Sebastián International Film Festival, where there was a general consensus among attendees about the high quality of the films in competition, the awards handed out by the official jury, chaired by director Dea Kulumbegashvili (winner of last year’s Golden Shell for Beginning [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Dea Kulumbegashvili
fiche film]), and made up of directors Audrey Diwan (fresh off her Golden Lion win with Happening [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Anamaria Vartolomei
fiche film]) and Maite Alberdi, actress Susi Sánchez and producer Ted Hope, have caused a stir – or at least in some circles, among both the critics and the audience.

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The raw and challenging first film by Romania’s Alina Grigore, Blue Moon [+lire aussi :
critique
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interview : Alina Grigore
fiche film], was the surprise winner of the Golden Shell, even after it was by no means a press or audience favourite for any award. In a very bold and interesting move, the jury highlighted its “uncompromising commitment to the language of cinema that explores the state of both youth and womanhood”. When accepting the award, Grigore said, “In the name of all my female colleagues, directors and producers, a huge thanks to all those who are offering us the chance to get our message as far as it can get.”

In fact, the list of winners was largely dominated by women. The other two main winning films of this edition weretwo very special and powerful approaches to surrealist mystery and religion-fuelled heteropatriarchy, respectively. Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig [+lire aussi :
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interview : Lucile Hadzihalilovic
fiche film] won the Special Jury Prize, an award the French director had already received for her previous film Evolution [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], and for the Danish first feature As in Heaven [+lire aussi :
critique
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interview : Tea Lindeburg
fiche film], Tea Lindeburg received the Silver Shell for Best Director and Floria Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl the Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance (which she shared with US actress Jessica Chastain for her turn in Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye, offering a touch of Hollywood glamour to the awards list).

As a reminder, this year was the first one in which the festival didn’t separate the Best Performance Awards by gender, and hence it gave out a second prize, but to the Best Supporting Performance, which went to the full cast of Who’s Stopping Us [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Jonás Trueba
fiche film], a three-hour-plus docufiction made by Spain’s Jonás Trueba in close collaboration with a group of secondary-school students over a total period of five years. The ceremony offered a very emotional moment as some of the actors and actresses went up on stage to collect the award for their work on a film which was by far the critics’ favourite, as its FIPRESCI and Feroz Zinemaldia Awards wins proved.

British master Terence Davies won the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay for his inspired (and witty) writing in Benediction [+lire aussi :
critique
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fiche film], which earned him his first official award after having competed at the festival three times.

Lastly, French DoP Claire Mathon received the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography for her work on Thierry de Peretti’s Undercover [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Thierry de Peretti
fiche film].

In the parallel sections, a few titles shone brightly, such as Tatiana Huezo’s Cannes-premiered and now Netflix-acquired Prayers for the Stolen [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (winning several accolades, including the Horizontes Latinos Award), Vortex [+lire aussi :
critique
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fiche film] by Gaspar Noé (awarded by the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera jury, who also gave a Special Mention to Helena Girón and Samuel M Delgado’s They Carry Death [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Samuel M. Delgado et Helen…
fiche film]) and Unwanted by Russia’s Lena Lanskih (awarded the main prize in the New Directors section), as well as Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] and Emmanuel Carrère’s Between Two Worlds [+lire aussi :
critique
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interview : Emmanuel Carrère
fiche film], both winners of the Audience Awards in the Perlak section.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Competition

Golden Shell for Best Film
Blue Moon [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alina Grigore
fiche film] – Alina Grigore (Romania)

Special Jury Prize
Earwig [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Lucile Hadzihalilovic
fiche film] – Lucile Hadzihalilovic (UK/France/Belgium)

Silver Shell for Best Director
Tea Lindeburg – As in Heaven [+lire aussi :
critique
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interview : Tea Lindeburg
fiche film] (Denmark)

Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance (ex aequo)
Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl – As in Heaven
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye (USA)

Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance
Film cast – Who’s Stopping Us [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Jonás Trueba
fiche film] (Spain)

Jury Prize for Best Screenplay
Terence Davies – Benediction [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] (UK)

Jury Prize for Best Cinematography
Claire Mathon – Undercover [+lire aussi :
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interview : Thierry de Peretti
fiche film] (France)

New Directors

New Directors Award
Unwanted – Lena Lanskih (Russia)

Special Mention
Carajita – Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra (Argentina/Dominican Republic)

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Section

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award
Vortex [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] – Gaspar Noé (France)

Special Mention
They Carry Death [+lire aussi :
critique
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interview : Samuel M. Delgado et Helen…
fiche film] – Helena Girón, Samuel M Delgado (Spain/Colombia)

Horizontes Latinos Section

Horizontes Latinos Award
Prayers for the Stolen [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] – Tatiana Huezo (Mexico/Germany/Brazil/Switzerland/USA)

Other awards

RTVE Another Look Award
Prayers for the Stolen – Tatiana Huezo

Spanish Cooperation Award
Prayers for the Stolen – Tatiana Huezo

City of Donostia/San Sebastián Audience Award
Petite Maman [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] – Céline Sciamma (France)

Audience Award – Best European Film
Between Two Worlds [+lire aussi :
critique
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interview : Emmanuel Carrère
fiche film] – Emmanuel Carrère (France)

TCM Youth Award
Mass – Fran Kranz (USA)

Irizar Basque Film Award
Maixabel [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Icíar Bollaín
fiche film] – Icíar Bollaín (Spain)
Special Mention
Kuartk Valley – Maider Oleaga (Spain)

FIPRESCI Award
Who’s Stopping Us – Jonás Trueba

Feroz Zinemaldia Award
Who’s Stopping Us – Jonás Trueba

Sebastiane Award
The Power of the Dog [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] - Jane Campion (UK/New Zealand/Australia/Canada/USA)