SHORT FILMS BY IRISH JAMIE O’ROURKE, MEXICAN PABLO DELGADO, AND IRANIAN ELAHE ESMAILI ENTER THE OSCAR PRESELECTION AFTER WINNING THE INTERNATIONAL, IBERO-AMERICAN, AND DOCUMENTARY COMPETITIONS RESPECTIVELY
PEQUEÑO WINS THE AUDIENCE AWARD
THE BEST DEBUT FILMS ARE THE SPANISH LAS PLANTAS NO DUERMEN, THE SWEDISH-DANISH COPRODUCTION TORN, AND THE VEILED CITY FROM THE UK
The Irish short film Calf by Jamie O’Rourke; the Mexican film La cascada by Pablo Delgado; and the Iran-UK coproduction A Move have won the Danzante Awards at the 52nd Huesca International Film Festival. These productions triumphed in the international, Ibero-American, and documentary competitions respectively, each winning a cash prize of 5,000 euros and direct preselection for the Oscars, as the Alto Aragon festival is one of the six in Spain that qualify directly for these awards.
CALF
The jury of the International Competition awarded their highest recognition to Calf by Jamie O’Rourke for a surprising script that leads the viewer to reflect on justice, violence, and for its technical brilliance, with a narrative that allows cinema to question reality, as well as for a well-rounded script that respects the structure of the short film with exceptional photography and actress Isabelle Connolly.
The International Animation Danzante Award went to Matta und Matto, directed by Bianca Caderas and Kerstin Zemp from Switzerland, for addressing themes like dependency and the need for human contact using the art of animation to create a surreal and absurd reality that acts as a metaphor for our human condition.
The Human Values Mention ‘Francisco García de Paso’ went to the France-Belgium coproduction Pavane, for being a short film that shows social challenges not only through struggle but also by valuing humanity and popular culture.
The filmmakers Nata Moreno from Spain, João Gonzalez from Portugal, and Eric Roux, president of the association “Sauve Qui Peut le Court Métrage” (the entity responsible for organizing the Clermont-Ferrand Festival), who decided the awards in this section, also included a Special Mention for the Filipino short film Cross My Heart and Hope to Die by Sam Manacsa, for a staging that creates a unique and original universe that serves the narration.
MEXICO IS THE WINNER IN THE IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION
LA CASCADA
The jury of the Ibero-American Competition awarded the Danzante Award to the Mexican short film La Cascada by Pablo Delgado for being an original work with a very personal technique and photography whose metaphorical story raises a strong question where emotions connect with human experiences. In the film, the director shows a deep knowledge of cinematic technique and uses an audiovisual language with freedom and precision.
The Ibero-American Danzante ‘Cacho Pallero’ went to the Spanish film La gran obra by Álex Lora. An intelligent work where the difference between social classes transforms into an exploration of our ability to go beyond prejudices, to recognize misunderstandings that create a dangerous illusion of distance between one life and another. As detailed in the official act of the festival, the tone is masterfuly constructed, the script weaves a web of deceptions around the viewer, dragging them into growing tension that reaches an evident moral dilemma.
Additionally, the jury, which included Spanish actress Aida Folch, Armando Casas, president of the Mexican Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences, and Luca Apolito, programmer and head of cultural relations at the Giffoni International Film Festival (Italy), wanted to give Special Mentions to the short films Ruído da pele (Brazil) by Gustavo Milan and La asistente (Peru) by Pierre Llanos.
A MOVE, AN IRAN-UK COPRODUCTION, WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY
A MOVE
The third competition category, dedicated to Documentaries, awarded the Iran-UK coproduction A Move by Iranian Elahe Esmaili. Cyndi Portella, short film programmer for the Biarritz Latin America Festival; Jesús Garcés, recognized by ‘Forbes’ magazine as one of the 30 most creative Mexican directors of 2018; and Patricia Español, director of the Espiello Festival, highlighted the film “for the director’s choice to propose an intimate point of view on how politics permeates family relationships in the current repressive context in Iran. The act of filming becomes a transformative element and with love and tenderness, it allows us to participate in the conflicts and reconciliations of her environment.”
The Ibero-American Documentary Danzante ‘José Manuel Porquet’ went to the Spain-USA coproduction You Play My Father by Javier Marín, Guillermo Roqués, and Rafa Honrubia, for being a necessary film that offers a mirror game reflecting the painful process of reconciliation thirty years after the end of the Balkan War. With great visual power, the protagonists emotionally bare themselves, showing their wounds and vulnerabilities.
The jury also gave a special mention to the Spanish documentary Aitana by Marina Alberti, “for the great artistic and poetic value of the documentary that moved us and transported us to a place where memory fades.”
LAS PLANTAS NO DUERMEN, TORN, AND THE VEILED CITY ARE THE BEST DEBUT FILMS
The 52nd edition of the Huesca festival completes its list of winners with the best debut films, a category that is never neglected in this premier film event in Aragon. This responsibility falls to the young jury, who this year chose the Spanish film Las plantas no duermen by Frederico Custódio in the Ibero-American section for addressing essential and controversial life topics such as euthanasia and correcting past mistakes to confront death and find oneself. In the International competition, they chose Torn, a Sweden-Denmark coproduction by Jahfar Muataz, for realistically portraying the problems of loss and search for identity through the two different worlds of a young man. For Documentaries, they chose The Veiled City from the UK, directed by Natalie Cubides-Brady, for its experimental and expressive approach to topics like pollution and industrialization.
The awards list is completed with the audience award and the best screenplay award. The first (sponsored by Aragón TV) went to Pequeño by Meka Ribera and Álvaro G. Company, while the latter went to the Spanish film Aunque es de noche by Guillermo García López (screenplay by Guillermo García López and Inbar Horesh) for keeping the screenplay alive through all phases of the film’s development and for maintaining an invisible pulse in the narrative that drives conflict and emotion through a well-rounded construction of the characters.
