Isaki Lacuesta's 'Between Two Waters' Festival wins in an act full of political demands
- Between two waters, by Isaki Lacuesta, has won the Golden Shell of the San Sebastian Film Festival. This is the second time that the Bilbaíno managed to win the award, after winning in 2011 with The Double Steps. The Gironese director has been able to bring a fictional story to the screen in a hyper-realistic way.
As for other films featured by the official palmarés, the Argentine Rojo de Benjamín Naishtat has been one of the great winners of the night, winning the prize for the best director, the best actor and the best photography.
Naishtat has been very critical of the government of his country when he received the Silver Shell to the best director of the country. The Macri Government has ensured that it closed the Ministry of Culture, that today it has become a subdivision of another ministry and that, although tomorrow’s newspapers will make known the success of its film, the situation of culture is not good in Argentina. "Dignity is not negotiated," he concluded.
The award for the best actress was for Pia Tjeta, for her role in this year's Norwegian film 'Blind Spot'. The whole movie is narrated in a single plane and Tjeta's character plays the main role, that of the mother of a girl who has attempted suicide. The representation has memorable moments, for example, a taxi journey that, without words, achieves a great expressiveness, which has given much to talk among those who have followed the Official Section.
The award for the best ex aequo script has been for two films: Louis Garrel for L'homme and Paul Laverty, writer of Yuli. Both took advantage of their speech to denounce the prize politically: Garrel reminds Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, imprisoned for his actions against the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Laverty, for its part, has had harsh words against the economic blockade against Cuba and against the countries that support it, the United States and Israel.
The jury's special prize was for Alpha, by Brilliant Mendoza, who has taken the special prize. It's been for The Right to Kill, for his crude portrait of the "War on Drugs" in the Philippines.
Koldo Almandoz and Raúl de la Fuente also awarded
Although outside the official list, two Basque directors have been awarded this Saturday in Donostia-San Sebastián for the Gold Medal. The Irizar Prize for Basque Cinema has been for Oreina, by Koldo Almandoz, and the San Sebastian City Public Prize for Another day of Life, by Raúl de la Fuente.
The two short films have given much to talk about before the Festival begins. Oreina is Koldo Almandoz’s first fiction feature and has premiered in the New Directors section of the San Sebastian Festival. This Friday, the film that revolves around the relationship between two brothers and a young Saharawi girl has premiered in the commercial rooms.
The film by Raúl de la Fuente is based on the experiences of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski in the Angolan war. The work of animation comes to Donostia-San Sebastian after his passing through the festival of Cannes and will be seen in the theatres starting in October.
It's not the norm that an animation documentary is awarded with the public's prize. But Another day of Life is also not an animation work to use. Firstly, because part of the great war journalist Ryszard Kapuściński, from whom the book and the words are inspired A more vivid... [+]
Without making much noise, Isaki Lacuesta has already won two Golden Shells at the San Sebastian Film Festival in this decade. The first one seemed rather controversial, as in 2011 he brought to the Official Section The Steps, a rather ambitious work, with rather exaggerated... [+]
