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SAN SEBASTIÁN 2021 San Sebastián Industry

Projects from Latin America, Spain and Moldova awarded prizes at San Sebastián’s professional events

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- The works by Juan Andrés Arango and Eduardo Crespo stood out among the Latin American winners, while those by Francisco Marise and Ion Borș excelled among the European efforts

Projects from Latin America, Spain and Moldova awarded prizes at San Sebastián’s professional events
Director Francisco Marise with his Award for Best Project for Camionero, standing next to jury member Pamela Biénzobas

The San Sebastián Film Festival continues to press on with its mission of fostering synergies between the Latin American and European audiovisual industries, and giving a necessary boost to new (and not so new) filmmakers hailing from the two regions, whose works are sure to shape the upcoming cinema release schedules and probably the festival line-ups, too. In fact, award winners from last year’s edition of this same platform (see the news) have had their world premieres this year at Cannes (The Employer and the Employee [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Venice (Dusk Stone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iván Fund
film profile
]
) and San Sebastián itself (Between Two Dawns [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Selman Nacar
film profile
]
).

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And so, this year’s edition of the festival’s events for professionals, which took place in person but under certain restrictions, which also prompted the team to keep online access open, shone the spotlight on projects coming from Latin America, Spain and Moldova.

At the tenth edition of the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the top prize (endowed with a gross sum of €10,000, awarded to the majority producer) was bestowed upon the project by Argentinian director Francisco Marise (who took part in New Directors in 2018 with To War [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Camionero, the new work that he’s making alongside his regular collaborator Javier Rebollo (the Spanish filmmaker responsible for titles such as Lo que sé de Lola [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and El muerto y ser feliz [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
). The jury, made up of programmer and coordinator of Arcalt - Cinélatino Rencontres de Toulouse Eva Morsch Kihn, programmer and critic Pamela Biénzobas, and producer Marisa Fernández Armenteros, highlighted “its bravery and originality when tackling its main topic”, to which the director responded, “Long live free cinema, independent cinema and dirty cinema!”

Meanwhile, the parallel DALE! Award, handed out by the European Film Agency Directors Association (EFAD) and by the Conference of Ibero-American Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities (CAACI), and endowed with €20,000 for the majority producer, went to Where the River Begins, the new project by Colombia’s Juan Andrés Arango (whose La Playa DC [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
took part in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2012). The jury, made up of ICAA's Pablo Pérez de Lema, (EFAD representative); Adecine Bolivia's general director German Monje (CAACI representative); and European Producers Club managing director Alexandra Lebret, singled out “the consistency of the characters and the elements of magical realism in the representation of the Amazon region” which shine through in the project, while the director remarked: “It’s been so vital to feel the energy of those people who are creating during this dark period.”

Lastly, the Artekino International Award (endowed with a gross sum of €6,000 for the majority producer) was given to the feature-debut project Alemania [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: María Zanetti
film profile
]
by Argentinian director María Zanetti. It’s worth pointing out that, after collaborating with the gathering for years, Eurimages has decided to stop giving out its usual Co-production Development Award at this event.

Turning to the work-in-progress sections, Carbon [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the feature debut by Ion Borș, a director hailing from Moldova, which is a far less visible country on the film scene, came out on top in WIP Europa, taking home the awards from the section (post-production of the film and €10,000 for the majority producer) after a unanimous decision by the jury. For its part, in WIP Latam, Daughter of Rage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Baumeister
film profile
]
by Nicaraguan helmer Laura Baumeister, which coincidentally went home with the EFAD-CAACI Award at the 2019 Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum (see our interview with the director), made off with the award that offers post-production on the film, while Vicenta B. [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Cuba’s Carlos Lechuga was crowned with the prize that comes with a gross sum of €30,000 for its producer.

The festival also announced the award winners in the Ikusmira Berriak programmes (see the news), where The Wind’s Cave by Argentina’s Eduardo Crespo emerged triumphant, and the Lau Haizetara Documentary Co-Production Forum, organised by IBAIA (the Association of Basque Independent Audiovisual Producers), in conjunction with the festival.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum

Award for Best Project
Camionero – Francisco Marise (Spain/Argentina)

DALE! Award (EFAD+CAACI Award)
Where the River Begins – Juan Andrés Arango (Colombia/Canada/France)

Artekino International Award
Alemania [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: María Zanetti
film profile
]
– María Zanetti (Argentina/Germany)

WIP Europa

WIP Europa + Premio WIP Europa Industry Award
Carbon [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Ion Borș (Moldova/Romania)

WIP Latam

WIP Latam Industry Award
Daughter of Rage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Baumeister
film profile
]
- Laura Baumeister (Nicaragua/Mexico/Netherlands/Germany/France/Norway)

EGEDA Platino Industry Award for Best WIP Latam Project
Vicenta B. [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Carlos Lechuga (Cuba/Colombia/Norway/France)

Ikusmira Berriak

Irusoin Post-production Award
The Wind’s Cave – Eduardo Crespo (Argentina)

Lau Haizetara Documentary Co-Production Forum

Treeline Award for Distribution and Festival Consultancy
Las cartas perdidas - Amparo Climent (Spain)

Ibaia Award
Domingo domingo [+see also:
interview: Laura García Andreu
film profile
]
– Laura García Andreu (Spain)

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(Translated from Spanish)

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