French productions took the lion's share of prizes at the closing ceremony of the 16th Seville European Film Festival, held on November 16.
The festival's Grand Prize, Grand Jury Prize, and the awards for Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Director, among others, all went to French productions and coproductions at this year's festival, reflecting French cinema's strong position at this event that, as indicated by its title, takes pride in its European identity.
The award-winning majority-French productions are The Bears' Famous Invasion by Lorenzo Mattotti, which earned a Special Mention from the Jury and the Europa Junior Prize, while Nadav Lapid was voted Best Director for Synonyms, School Life won the Best Film Award in the Cinephiles of the Future section, and Sibyl was honored with the Asecan Award for Best Film.
In addition, Jeanne Balibar received the City of Seville Prize, an honorary award that celebrates the actress' contribution to the movie industry. Balibar was in attendance at the closing ceremony, and in her acceptance speech expressed her delight at being presented this award opposite a site which is now the seat of the University of Seville and was formerly Seville's famous tobacco factory where Carmen de Bizet worked.
All award-winning French films
- Golden Giraldillo: Martin Eden by Pietro Marcello (minority-French coproduction)
- Special Mention from the Jury: The Bears' Famous Invasion by Lorenzo Mattotti
- Best Director: Nadav Lapid for Synonyms
- Best Screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu for The Whistlers (minority-French coproduction)
- Best Actor: Pierfrancesco Favino for The Traitor by Marco Bellocchio (minority-French coproduction)
- Best Actress: Zorica Nusheva for God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija by Teona Strugar Mitevska, shared with Marta Nieto for Madre by Rodrigo Sorogoyen (minority-French coproductions)
- Europa Junior Prize: The Bears' Famous Invasion by Lorenzo Mattotti
- Grand Jury Prize: Technoboss by João Nicolau (minority-French coproduction)
- Asecan Award for Best Film in the Official Selection: Sibyl by Justine Triet
- Eurimages Prize for Best European Coproduction: It Must Be Heaven by Elia Suleiman
- Best Film in the Women in Focus section: God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija by Teona Strugar Mitevska (minority-French coproduction)
- Ocaña Freedom Prize: And Then We Danced by Levan Akin (minority-French coproduction)
- Best Film in the New Waves section: Abou Leila by Amin Sidi-Boumédiène (minority-French coproduction)
- Cinephiles of the Future Prize: School Life by Grand Corps Malade, Mehdi Idir
The complete awards list can be found here.
