Women dominated the 69th annual San Sebastian Film Festival. With the exception of one male winner, prizes for individuals in every major category went to women, per Reuters. Romanian director Alina Grigore landed the fest’s top honor, the Golden Shell, for “Blue Moon” (“Crai Nou”), a drama about a young woman who hopes to escape her dysfunctional relationship by pursuing higher education.
The fest introduced a gender neutral acting award this year. Jessica Chastain and Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl shared the Best Leading Performance prize. The former was recognized for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” a biopic of the controversial televangelist, and the latter for “As In Heaven” (“Du som er i himlen”), a period pic about a Danish teen whose life takes an unexpected turn due to her mother’s pregnancy. “As In Heaven’s” filmmaker, Tea Lindeburg, was named Best Director.
Céline Sciamma scored the main audience award for “Petite Maman,” her follow-up to “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” The film follows eight-year-old Nelly who — while exploring the woods around where her mom, Marion, grew up — encounters and befriends another girl her own age, also called Marion. The pic’s cinematographer, Claire Mathon, won the Best Cinematography award for another film she worked on screening at the fest, drug trafficking drama “Undercover” (“Enquête sur un scandale d’état”).
Tatiana Huezo’s “Prayers for the Stolen” (“Noche de fuego”), a drama set in a solitary town in the Mexican mountains where being a girl or having a daughter is seen as a ticking time bomb, took home the the prize for Best Latin American film. “Earwig,” Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s fable about a girl with ice cubes for teeth, landed the festival’s special prize.
Head over to Reuters to learn more about San Sebastian Film Festival’s award winners.
