With few surprises, the winners of the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival, held from 19 to 27 September in the photogenic yet rainy Basque city, were announced. The closing ceremony took place last Saturday, during which – as throughout the rest of the competition (read more) – calls were made for peace in Gaza. The film that received the highest honour, the coveted Golden Shell for Best Film in the official section, was Sundays [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
scheda film], directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, which has already demonstrated its captivating power to critics and audiences alike since its festival screening.

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In addition, this feature film also received, among other accolades (the full list appears at the end of this article), the FIPRESCI Prize and the Irizar Prize for Basque Cinema. The latter’s jury gave a special mention to The Last Rapture by Marta Medina and Enrique López Lavigne, which was included in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section.

Although the only gasp of surprise at the Kursaal came with the double presence on stage of Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse, who collected both the Silver Shell for Best Director (an award he had previously won in 2015 for The White Knights [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Joachim Lafosse
scheda film]) and the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay for Six Days in Spring [+leggi anche:
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trailer
scheda film], it was Spanish cinema that received the most cheers.

The other Spanish feature films in the official section also received awards. Another predictable winner was José Luis Guerín, who repeated his Special Jury Prize, having first won it here 24 years ago for En construcción, for his documentary Good Valley Stories [+leggi anche:
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intervista: José Luis Guerín
scheda film]. He also repeated his triumph for Best Cinematography, twelve years after Cannibal [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Manuel Martín Cuenca
scheda film], for Los Tigres [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], Alberto Rodríguez's aquatic thriller. Actor José Ramón Soroiz was moved as he received his trophy for Best Leading Actor – shared with China's Zhao Xiaohong, star of the film Her Heart Beats in Its Cage– for Maspalomas [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Aitor Arregi e José Mari G…
scheda film], directed by José Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi.

The remaining awards, presented by a jury chaired by Catalan filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona (read more), included Best Supporting Actress, which went to Argentine actress Camila Plaate. She accepted the award with nerves and emotion for her work in Dolores Fonzi's film Belén.

Meanwhile, Weightless [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emilie Thalund
scheda film], the debut film by Danish filmmaker Emilie Thalund, received the New Directors Award. The jury also gave a special mention to Spanish director Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe's debut film Aro berria [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film], which had participated in the Ikusmira Berriak festival's residency programme during its development.

The Horizontes Award went to A Poet [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Simón Mesa Soto
scheda film], directed by Simón Mesa Soto, which thrilled audiences and had previously premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, where it won the Jury Prize. Two special mentions were also awarded in this section: one to The Ivy [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ana Cristina Barragán
scheda film], by Ana Cristina Barragán, which had won Best Screenplay in the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival; and another to A Loose End [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], by Daniel Hendler, which premiered in the Venezia Spotlight section at Venice and won last year’s WIP Latam Industry Award.

Finally, the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award went to The Ice Tower [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lucile Hadžihalilović
scheda film], the latest work by French filmmaker Lucile Hadzihalilovic, winner of the Silver Bear for Artistic Contribution at this year's Berlinale. The jury also decided on two special mentions: one to the Portuguese production Two Times João Liberada [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Paula Tomás Marques
scheda film], by Paula Tomás Marques, which was screened at the most recent Berlinale, and another to the Canadian-Hungarian co-production Blue Heron [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], by Sophy Romvari, which had previously won Best First Feature at Locarno and the Canadian Discovery Award at Toronto.

The list of winners:

Competition

Golden Shell for Best Film
Sundays [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
scheda film] – Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Spain/France)

Silver Shell for Best Director
Joachim Lafosse - Six Days in Spring [+leggi anche:
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trailer
scheda film] (Belgium/France/Luxembourg) 

Special Jury Prize
Good Valley Stories [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: José Luis Guerín
scheda film] – José Luis Guerín (Spain/France)

Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance (joint winners)
José Ramón Soroiz - Maspalomas [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Aitor Arregi e José Mari G…
scheda film] (Spain)
Zhao Xiaohong - Her Heart Beats in Its Cage (China)

Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance
Camila Plaate - Belén (Argentina)

Best Screenplay
Joachim Lafosse, Chloé Duponchelle and Paul Ismaël - Six Days in Spring 

Best Cinematography
Pau Esteve – Los Tigres [+leggi anche:
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trailer
scheda film] (Spain)

New Directors

Kutxabank-New Directors Award
Weightless [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emilie Thalund
scheda film] - Emilie Thalund (Denmark)

Special Mention
Aro berria [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe (Spain)

Horizontes Latinos

Horizontes Latinos Make & Mark Award
A Poet [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Simón Mesa Soto
scheda film] – Simón Mesa Soto (Colombia/Germany/Sweden)

Special Mention
The Ivy [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Ana Cristina Barragán
scheda film] – Ana Cristina Barragán (Ecuador/Mexico/France/Spain)
A Loose End [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] – Daniel Hendler (Uruguay/Argentina/Spain)

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award
The Ice Tower [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lucile Hadžihalilović
scheda film] - Lucile Hadzihalilovic (France/Germany)

Special Mention
Two Times João Liberada [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Paula Tomás Marques
scheda film] - Paula Tomás Marques (Portugal)
Blue Heron [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Sophy Romvari (Canada/Hungary)

Culinary Zinema

Culinary Zinema Award
Mam - Nan Feix (France)

Nest

Nest The Mediapro Studio Award
How to Listen to Fountains - Eva Sajanová (Academy of Music and Performing Arts - FTF VSMU, Slovakia) (short film)

Special Mention
The Old Bull Knows, Or Once Knew - Milan Kumar (Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, India) (short film)

Other Awards

City of Donostia / San Sebastián Audience Award
The Voice of Hind Rajab [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kaouther Ben Hania
scheda film] – Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France)

Audience Award for Best European Film
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain [+leggi anche:
trailer
intervista: Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho …
scheda film]- Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han (France)

Irizar Award for Basque Cinema
Sundays– Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
Special Mention
The Last Rapture – Marta Medina, Enrique López Lavigne (Spain)

DAMA Youth Award
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Diego Céspedes
scheda film]– Diego Céspedes (Chile/France/Germany/Spain/Belgium)

FIPRESCI Award
Sundays – Alauda Ruiz de Azúa

Feroz Zinemaldia Award
Sundays – Alauda Ruiz de Azúa

Eusko Label Award
First Award
Hatsa (Alma/Soul) – Josu Ozaita Azpiroz (Spain) (micro-short film)
Second Award
Gatz Harana (Valle salado/Salt Valley) – Saioa Miguel (Spain) (micro-short film)