The 66^th edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival came to a close on Saturday with the unveiling of the winners’ list. The ceremony saw a smattering of glamour and a good deal of political content, but overall, it was a fairly sober affair. The jury, chaired by US director Alexander Payne, “totally unanimously” decided to award the Golden Shell for Best Film to Between Two Waters [+lire aussi :
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interview : Isaki Lacuesta
fiche film] by Catalan filmmaker Isaki Lacuesta. His returning to the characters from his inspired 2006 documentary The Legend of Time resulted in him winning the gathering’s top prize for the second time, after he did so in 2011 for The Double Steps [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]. Lacuesta accepted the award, which boasted a new design for this edition, and invited the whole crew to come up on stage, particularly singling out his two protagonists, Cheíto, through an audio message on his mobile phone, and Isra, who was very emotional throughout his speech. The Girona-born director has thus been added to the list of filmmakers who have won the award twice, which also includes none other than Francis Ford Coppola and Arturo Ripstein.

The second big winner of the night was Rojo [+lire aussi :
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interview : Benjamín Naishtat
fiche film], a deconstructed thriller by Argentina’s Benjamín Naishtat, which took home no fewer than three trophies: Best Direction, Best Actor, for Darío Grandinetti, and Best Cinematography, for Pedro Sotero. The team’s speeches proved to be some of the most political of the night: Naishtat seized the opportunity to denounce the cultural situation in Argentina, where a few weeks ago the Ministry of Culture was downgraded to a “secretariat” (“Culture is part of people’s dignity, and dignity is non-negotiable”), Grandinetti did so to shine a spotlight on the fact that this “film can serve as a warning about what the present situation may lead to, as right-wing politics and fascism have once again become more prevalent in the world”, and Sotero used his time at the podium to condemn the current situation that Brazilian former president Lula Da Silva finds himself in.

Best Actress went to the lead in the Norwegian film Blind Spot [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tuva Novotny
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The Jury Award for Best Screenplay was split between two pictures: Yuli [+lire aussi :
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interview : Icíar Bollaín
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interview : Louis Garrel
fiche film] by Louis Garrel, written by the helmer himself and the masterful Jean-Claude Carrière. Both Laverty and Garrel were responsible for kicking off the political proceedings on the night, with the former vehemently railing against the USA and Israel (calling them “bullies”, “crooks” and “hypocrites”), and the latter reminding the audience of the scandalous case of Oleh Sentsov, who is still on hunger strike in jail in Russia.

The winners’ list was rounded off by the new thriller by Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, Alpha, the Right to Kill, which slightly perplexingly scooped the second-most-important award of the night, the Special Jury Award. This meant that the three most unique and uncompromising pictures in the competition, High Life [+lire aussi :
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interview : Claire Denis
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interview : Carlos Vermut
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interview : Peter Strickland
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Elsewhere, outside of the official section, the presence of European features was somewhat watered down, as the Kutxabank-New Directors Award was bestowed upon Japan’s Jesus by Hiroshi Okuyama, with a Special Mention going to Journey to a Mother’s Room [+lire aussi :
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interview : Celia Rico Clavellino
fiche film] by Spaniard Celia Rico Clavellino; the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award ended up crowning the short film Song for the Jungle by France’s Jean-Gabriel Périot, with a Special Mention for Los que desean by Elena López Riera; and the RTVE Another Look Award, dedicated to the role of women, was handed to Vietnam’s The Third Wife by Ash Mayfair.

Here is the full list of winners:

Official Section

Golden Shell
Between Two Waters [+lire aussi :
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interview : Isaki Lacuesta
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Special Jury Award
Alpha: the Right to Kill – Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)

Silver Shell for Best Direction
Benjamín Naishtat – Rojo [+lire aussi :
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interview : Benjamín Naishtat
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Silver Shell for Best Actress
Pia Tjelta – Blind Spot [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tuva Novotny
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Silver Shell for Best Actor
Darío Grandinetti – Rojo

Jury Award for Best Cinematography
Pedro Sotero – Rojo

Jury Award for Best Screenplay (ex aequo)
Paul Laverty – Yuli [+lire aussi :
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interview : Icíar Bollaín
fiche film] (Spain/Cuba/United Kingdom/Germany)
Louis Garrel, Jean-Claude Carrière – A Faithful Man [+lire aussi :
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interview : Louis Garrel
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New Directors Section

Kutxabank-New Directors Award
Jesus – Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan)
Special Mention
Journey to a Mother's Room [+lire aussi :
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interview : Celia Rico Clavellino
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Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Section

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award
Song for the Jungle - Jean-Gabriel Périot (France) (short film)
Special Mention
Los que desean - Elena López Riera (Switzerland/Spain) (short film)

Horizontes Latinos Section

Horizontes Latinos Award
A Family Submerged [+lire aussi :
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Special Mention
The Snatch Thief [+lire aussi :
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Other Awards

City of Donostia/San Sebastián Audience Award
Another Day of Life [+lire aussi :
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interview : Raul de la Fuente
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City of Donostia/San Sebastián Audience Award for Best European Film
Girl [+lire aussi :
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interview : Lukas Dhont
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Irizar Basque Film Award
The Deer [+lire aussi :
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interview : Koldo Almandoz
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Youth Award
Journey to a Mother's Room - Celia Rico Clavellino

RTVE Another Look Award
The Third Wife – Ash Mayfair (Vietnam)

Cooperación Española Award
Los silencios [+lire aussi :
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