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Barcelona — Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s debut feature “The Platform” was awarded best film, and best F/X at the 52nd Sitges’ Intl. Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia. Gaztelu-Urrutia also snagged the Citizen Kane Award for an up-and-coming director and the Audience Award for best picture. The prizes come off the back of the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at Toronto’s Midnight Madness.

Produced by Carlos Juárez at Bilbao-based outfit Basque Films in co-production with Barcelona’s Mr. Miyagi, Gaztelu-Urrutia’s debut offers a harsh survival parable of power human relationships in a dystopic multi-floor dungeon prison. Its oft-starving dwellers handle the situation with existential and cannibalistic inclinations. The nightmarish script was co-written by successful Catalan playwright David Desola (“Warehoused”) and Pedro Rivero, co-director of Gkids U.S. pick-up “Bird Boy.”

Bilbao-born Gaztelu-Urrutia is an experienced producer at Basque Films and has directed commercials as well as two shorts. One,...

Today sees the start of the 52nd Sitges Fantastic Film Festival, boasting premieres of Spanish titles such as Advantages of Travelling by Train, Amigo and Ropes. The 52nd Sitges Fantastic Film Festival, which is unspooling from 3-13 October, fires the starting pistol for its jam-packed menu of fantastic, horror and science-fiction films today. It boasts such an abundance of sections, screenings and activities that it is sure to delight the huge number of fans and genre enthusiasts who will be flocking to the charming Catalonian city over the coming days. Standing out among its presentations of Spanish movies are three features. Amigo, directed by first-timer Óscar Martín, is a film that was shot in just seven days, starring Javier Botet in the lead role; this tall, slim actor also performs in the omnibus movie Advantages of Travelling by Train, the feature...

Netflix brings the Us Premiere of the much-lauded I Lost My Body to Fantastic Fest after an award winning debut at Cannes Critics Week. From director J&#233r&#233my Clapin, this singular tale of a severed hand trying to reunite with its owner is told in a striking hand-drawn animation style and won the Cristal award at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

"This has been a phenomenal year in terms of filmmaking, and we are proud to be hosting so many of the year's best filmmakers in Austin," says Evrim Ersoy, Fantastic Fest Creative Director. "Whether first-timers or alumni, we hope to share their work with our unique audience and to help elevate their voices within the festival world and with audiences at large."

The festival will be honoring the career of Japanese maestro Takashi Miike with a lifetime achievement award and a special screening of The Happiness of Katakuris.