12/11/2012 - Swedish director Gabriela Pichler’s film wins the Golden Giraldillo, Greek title Boy Eating the Bird’s Food follows closely behind

Last Saturday, the winners were announced for the 9th edition of the Sevilla Film Festival and the first to be directed by José Luis Cienfuegos.

The jury awarded the Golden Giraldillo (€20,000 plus €15,000 to its distributor in Spain) to Gabriela Pichler (photo, interview)'s Eat Sleep Die [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: China Ahlander
interview: Gabriela Pichler
interview: Nermina Lukac
film profile], for its “stunning and mature cinematographic voice to discuss universal themes in a personal and authentic way”. The film's phenomenal main actress, Nermina Lukac, received Best Actress.

The Silver Giraldillo (€10,000, plus the same quantity for its distribution) was awarded to Greek director Ektoras Lygizos' Boy Eating the Bird’s Food [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], “a brave and radical approach to a mode of filmmaking that results in a captivating character study and that also works as a sophisticated metaphor of a country in turmoil”. The film’s main actor, Yannis Papadopoulos, won Best Actor.

As for Matteo Garrone’s Italian-French co-production Reality [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile], it added another trophy to its shelf with the Jury Special Prize in the Andalusian capital. Paradise: Faith [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ulrich Seidl
film profile], Viennese director Ulrich Seidl’s second instalment in the trilogy that he started with Paradise: Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], was awarded for its screenplay, while director of photography Agnês Godard was awarded for her work on Franco-Swiss film Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kacey Mottet Klein
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile]. These two films were named Best European Co-productions by Eurimages. The audience in the European Film Academy (EFA) section voted for Michael Haneke’s Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile], whose screenings were always packed.

The young audience handed its prize to El corazón del roble (lit. “The heart of the oak”), a Spanish animation film directed by Ricardo Ramón and Ángel Izquierdo brimming with an ecological message. Leviathan and Spanish title Mapa shared the award for Best Documentary.

Finally, Eloy Enciso’s Arraianos [+see also:
trailer
interview: Eloy Enciso and Carlos Esbert
film profile] (read the interview) made a brilliant start to its journey to festivals around the world with an award for Best Film in the New Waves section. This hybrid film to a certain extent reflects what this edition of the festival has been: an intermediary state between previous editions and the changes now starting, combining what is commercial with what is avant-garde and what eludes labels and frontiers.

(Translated from Spanish)