On Saturday 22 April, the jury of the official section of the 22^nd Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival – made up of Ildikó Enyedi, Gerwin Tamsma and Fatou Jupiter Touré – handed their top prize, the Golden Lady Harimaguada, to the diptych made up of Bad Living [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : João Canijo
fiche film] and Living Bad [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
interview : João Canijo
fiche film], a Portuguese-French co-production helmed by João Canijo. According to the jury statement, it was deemed worthy of the prize “for its profoundness and intensity, particularly on the level of its cinematic execution. It reveals a filmmaker who is experienced but relentlessly ambitious, and who works with a cast and crew dedicated to creating kaleidoscopic scenes of female anguish, repression, suffering, desire and love.” The film also went home with the Audience Award.

The second prize, the Silver Lady Harimaguada, was bestowed upon The Bride (Rwanda), directed by Myriam U Birara. It was previously screened in the Berlinale Forum and won a Special Mention of the GWFF Best First Feature Award at the German festival. As for the feature About Thirty (Argentina), another title hailing from the Berlinale Forum, the jury singled out its protagonist and director, Martín Shanly, for his performance, granting him the Best Actor Award. It also bestowed a Special Mention upon The Klezmer Project [+lire aussi :
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interview : Leandro Koch et Paloma Sch…
fiche film] (Austria/Argentina) by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann, which just so happened to win the aforementioned GWFF Best First Feature Award at the most recent Berlinale.

On the other hand, the jury tasked with weighing up the works presented in the Panorama España section – made up of Elena Lazic, Magdalena Banasik and René Wolf – picked the unclassifiable Inmotep [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] by Julián Génisson as its winner, for being a “film with a daring and intriguing formal language that perfectly expresses the almost unutterable but essential quality of modern life. A sensation of disconnection and artificiality, and the feelings of isolation and terror that that can entail. A proudly digital work; a thriller with no dialogue, which is playful and captivating.” Besides this, a Special Mention went to the imaginative short film Alegrías riojanas by Logroño-born filmmaker Velasco Broca.

The jury for the Canarias Cinema strand, consisting of Ione Atenea, Virginia Pablos and Suso Novás Andrade, handed the Richard Leacock Award for Best Feature to Killing Crabs [+lire aussi :
critique
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interview : Omar Al Abdul Razzak
fiche film] (Spain/Netherlands) by Omar Al Abdul Razzak, “for its panoramic reflection on a disenchanted paradise on the cusp of transformation, and for reflecting the feeling of emptiness around the things that could have been but were not, from a child’s and teenager’s standpoint”.

Lastly, in the Market Dedicated to Almost-finished Films (MECAS) (see the news on the projects), the awards went to the work in progress Balane 3 by Portugal’s Ico Costa in the Cine Casi Hecho section, and to the project Tres balas by Dominican Genésis Valenzuela in the Cine Por Hacer strand. La hojarasca [+lire aussi :
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interview : Macu Machín
fiche film] by Macu Machín picked up the Isla MECAS Award, comprising support worth €1,200 for international promotion at labs and festivals, intended for a project from the Canary Islands.

Here is the full list of winners:

Golden Lady Harimaguada
Bad Living [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : João Canijo
fiche film] and Living Bad [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : João Canijo
fiche film] - João Canijo (Portugal/France)

Silver Lady Harimaguada
The Bride - Myriam U Birara (Rwanda)

Best Actor
Martín Shanly – About Thirty (Argentina)

Jury’s Special Mention
The Klezmer Project [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Leandro Koch et Paloma Sch…
fiche film] - Leandro Koch, Paloma Schachmann (Austria/Argentina)

Best Short Film
Zarzal – Sebastián Valencia Muñoz (Colombia)

Special Mention for Short Film
Azul – Ágata de Pinho (Portugal)

Panorama España

Panorama España Award
Inmotep [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]- Julián Génisson

Jury’s Special Mention
Alegrías riojanas – Velasco Broca (short film)

Canarias Cinema

Richard Leacock Award for Best Feature
Killing Crabs [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Omar Al Abdul Razzak
fiche film] – Omar A Razzak (Spain/Netherlands)

Richard Leacock Award for Best Short Film
Circe - María Abenia Gracia

Jury’s Special Mention for a Feature
Yo tenía una vida - Octavio Guerra

Jury’s Special Mention for a Short Film
Shirampari: Legacies of the River - Lucía Flórez (Peru/Spain)

Digital 104 Distribution Award
Shirampari: Legacies of the River - Lucía Flórez

Banda Aparte section

Banda Aparte Award
Bloom – Helena Girón and Samuel M Delgado (Spain)

Special Mention
Home Invasion – Graeme Arnfield (UK)

Other awards

Audience Award
Bad Living and Living Bad - João Canijo

CIMA Award
The Bride - Myriam U Birara
Special Mention
The Klezmer Project - Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann

Market Dedicated to Almost-finished Films (MECAS)

Cine Casi Hecho Award
Balane 3 - Ico Costa (Portugal)

Cine Por Hacer Award
Tres balas - Genésis Valenzuela (Dominican Republic)

Isla MECAS Award
La hojarasca [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Macu Machín
fiche film] - Macu Machín (Spain)