Alain Guiraudie has seduced the international jury of the 69th edition of the Seminci - Valladolid International Film Week –made up of Greek director Sofia Exarchou, Spanish actress Aida Folch, critic and editor Devika Girish, German producer Ingmar Trost and Murcian director and writer Luis López Carrasco- with his latest film, Misericordia [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alain Guiraudie
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The verdict, revealed last Saturday, highlighted the intelligence of this film, as well as the fact that “its lightness conceals a complex balance of genres and tones, under whose appearance of provincial thriller-comedy hides a profound meditation on how desire and guilt make us predictable and incomprehensible to each other”. It is worth remembering that this French filmmaker was also triumphant at the 10th edition of Seville Film Festival, then directed by José Luis Cienfuegos, the current head of the Seminci, with Stranger by the Lake [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alain Guiraudie
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The jury has also decided to award the Silver Spike to two titles: the musical They Will Be Dust [+lire aussi :
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interview : Carlos Marqués-Marcet
fiche film], by Spanish director Carlos Marques-Marcet, because, according to the jury, “it tackles with sensitivity and even joy the confrontation between mortality and the life of a family, where maximalism is balanced with subtlety and authenticity, thanks to the extraordinary performances of true legends of cinema,” and Stranger Eyes [+lire aussi :
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The award for Best Director went to Chinese director Guan Hu, for Black Dog, the big winner of Un Certain Regard last May in Cannes. The award for Best Cinematography went to Weizhe Gao for the same film.

The award-winning performers share, in terms of the characters they play, the questioning of traditional male and female roles. For a “fierce authenticity embodying the multiple contradictions of one of society's most complex figures - a reluctant and troubled mother - using empathy and a defiant commitment to nuance,” Laura Weissmahr, the protagonist of Mar Coll's Salve María [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mar Coll
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interview : Dag Johan Haugerud
fiche film], Jan Gunnar Roise and Thorbjorn Harr, for their “two roles that gently challenge and expand the contours of masculinity on screen”. The main actors in They Will Be Dust, Ángela Molina and Alfredo Castro, also receive a special mention, with the jury stating their admiration for their work and confirming the place of these brilliant performers on the world stage.

For defending editing as a central creative principle in film, Telmo Churro and Pedro Filipe Marques have been recognised with the award for Best Editing in Grand Tour [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marta Donzelli et Gregorio…
interview : Miguel Gomes
fiche film], by Portuguese director Miguel Gomes. “Editing becomes a tightrope where past and present, fiction and documentary, East and West delicately balance each other”, said the jury.

In the most daring section of the festival, the Alchemies section, the jury, made up of Brazilian filmmaker Gabe Klinger, Spanish writer, screenwriter and director Álex Mendíbil and German artist and filmmaker Helena Wittmann, has awarded The Rim [+lire aussi :
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Finally, the Meeting Point jury (filmmaker Bridgett M. Davis, Brazilian director and screenwriter Sérgio Tréfaut, and Spanish actress and musician Julia de Castro) has awarded the top prize in this section to Holy Cow [+lire aussi :
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interview : Louise Courvoisier
fiche film], by French director Louise Courvoisier; and the Time of History jury (researchers Tomasz Poborca and Domingo Sánchez-Mesa and artist Nina Danino) has decided to award it to the documentary by the Chinese director Wang Bing Youth (Hard Times) [+lire aussi :
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The complete list of awards:

Feature Film Competition

Golden Spike
Misericordia [+lire aussi :
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Silver Spike
They Will Be Dust [+lire aussi :
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interview : Carlos Marqués-Marcet
fiche film] - Carlos Marques-Marcet (Spain/Switzerland/Italy)
Stranger Eyes [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Yeo Siew Hua (Singapore/Taiwan/France/USA)

Ribera de Duero Best Director Award
Guan Hu - Black Dog (China)

Best Actor Award
Jan Gunnar Roise and Thorbjorn Harr – Sex [+lire aussi :
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interview : Dag Johan Haugerud
fiche film] (Norway)

Best Actress Award
María Laura Weissmahr – Salve María [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mar Coll
fiche film] (Spain)

Special Mention
Ángela Molina and Alfredo Castro – They Will Be Dust

Miguel Delibes Award for Best Script
Alain Guiraudie - Misericordia

Best Cinematography
Weizhe Gao – Black Dog

José Salcedo Award for Best Editing
Telmo Churro and Pedro Filipe Marques - Grand Tour [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marta Donzelli et Gregorio…
interview : Miguel Gomes
fiche film] (Portugal/Italy/France/Germany/Japan/China)

Short Film Competition

Golden Spike for Best Short Film
Baldilocks – Marthe Peters (Belgium)

Silver Spike
Punter – Jason Adam Maselle (USA/South Africa)
Lluna de Sal – Mariona Martínez (Spain)

Best European Short Film
O – Rúnar Rúnarson (Iceland/Sweden)

“The Night of the Spanish Short Film” Award
El príncep – Álex Sardá
Special Mention
De sucre – Clàudia Cedó

Short Film from Castile & Leon Award
Sólo los muertos se quedan – Alejandro Renedo

Alchemies

Grand Prize
The Rim [+lire aussi :
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Special Mention
Bluish [+lire aussi :
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Meeting Point

Meeting Point Award
Holy Cow [+lire aussi :
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interview : Louise Courvoisier
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“Fundos” Award
Familiar Touch – Sarah Friedland (USA)

Time of History

Time of History Grand Prize
Youth (Hard Times) [+lire aussi :
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Time of History Special Award
Henry Fonda for President [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alexander Horwath
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Special Mention
Savanna and the Mountain [+lire aussi :
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interview : Paulo Carneiro
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Other Awards

Official Section Audience Award
Bob Trevino Likes It – Tracie Laymon (USA)

Meeting Point Audience Award
Holy Cow – Louise Courvoisier

“Pilar Miró” Award to the Best New Director
Elena Manrique – The Party's Over [+lire aussi :
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interview : Elena Manrique
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DOC Award. Spain
Resistance Reels – Concha Barquero and Alejandro Alvarado (Spain/Portugal)

Seminci Youth Award
Hija del volcán – Jenifer de la Rosa (Spain/Mexico)

Youth Jury Prize Official Selection
Armand [+lire aussi :
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interview : Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
interview : Renate Reinsve
fiche film] – Halfdan Ullmann Tondel (Norway/Netherlands/Sweden/Germany)

Rainbow Spike Award
Three Kilometres to the End of the World [+lire aussi :
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interview : Emanuel Pârvu
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Green Spike Award
Caught by the Tides – Jia Zhang-ke (China)

FIPRESCI Award
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point – Tyler Taormina (USA)