Its main actress, Noomi Rapace, receives the performance award for this Icelandic film “which gives rise to many theories”, according to the jury
This Sunday, September 17, the edition of the Sitges festival in 2021 ends, held just when the capacity has returned to 100% in the cultural spaces. The new measure has allowed the specialized event to finish in style, increasing ticket sales for some sessions during the weekend. It has been a year of transition, as Mónica García Massagué, general director of the Fundació Sitges – Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, recalls during the press conference of the record, with a 76% increase in ticket sales compared to the last year. “The balance is extraordinary and is reflected in the numbers,” he emphasizes. Some titles have hung the full-capacity poster, such as ‘Last Night in Soho’, ‘Veneciafrenia’ or ‘The Innocents’.
In the absence of knowing the Audience Award, the awards have not been too surprising. “We have enjoyed it a lot,” commented the comedian Joaquín Reyes before reading the jury’s decision in front of the press. “Few movies,” he added, with a clear ironic tone. “Thanks to the sponsor beer, I have been able to cope with so many unsettling moments in the movie theater.” In addition to the short films, about 35 films have competed in a well-nurtured Official Selection in which ‘Lamb’, by Valdimar Johánnssonla, has stood out, a film that won the highest prize with the unanimity of the five members of the jury.
“It tells an allegorical story in an original way, with some surprising moments,” says the critic Antonio Trashorras about the winning film, which tells the story of a couple with a curious baby whom they must take care of. “It gives rise to many theories,” adds Reyes. It puzzles. It will be released soon in our cinemas, and it is better not to know much more about it to taste it in its fullness. “We all liked it and it is difficult for this to happen,” continues Trashorras. «There has been a confluence, but the usual thing is the opposite, that everyone has their favorite movie and they are almost all different. There is not always such a consensus.
It has been left out, with a special mention, one of the proposals that sounded the most in the pools, ‘The Innocents’, an extremely disturbing children’s story directed with good sense by Eskil Vogt. “It was a way of acknowledging her, because it was unfair not to mention her,” says Alaska, also a member of the diverse jury. “It blew us away, but it ultimately fell off the main list.” The award that has surprised the most has been the Special Award for ‘After Blue’, by Bertrand Mandico, a lysergic bet, without complexes, which aroused philias and phobias among the audience, with disbanding in the stalls. “It is the most special film we have seen, there is going to be a lot of talk about it after passing through the festival,” defends the singer from Fangoria. “It is already a cult movie.”
“With so many awards we have been able to cover a lot of talent, and even so there have been some titles out,” said Luna, director of ‘Stranded: Naufragos’ and ‘Moscow Zero’, films that she presented in Sitges in her day. “The level has been good, it has been difficult to discard some titles from the beginning”, finishes Alaska. Ali Abassi, director of the applauded ‘Border’, has been the most critical during the reading of the ruling, highlighting that current cinema lives on nostalgia and gets little wet politically. It is surprising that they have awarded several mentions without giving the specific reasons, as is necessary, with an ex-aequo for best first work for ‘The Blazing World’ (Carlson Young) and ‘The Execution’ (Lado Kvataniya). The best direction has fallen on ‘Nitram’, a debatable portrait of psychopathy.
Another half trophy, has been the one for the best male performance for Caleb Landry Jones, for his delivery in ‘Nitram’, and Franz Rogowski, brutal in ‘Luzifer’ – although his participation in ‘Freaks Out’, forgotten by the record, is also commendable. His co-star, Susanne Jensen, shares the award for best female performance with the popular Noomi Rapace, for her striking emotional role in ‘Lamb’. The best script has gone to ‘Silent Night’, one of the funniest seen in Sitges, with an early release date on our billboard. The best photography has been deservedly for ‘Limbo’, a nightmarish Asian thriller whose black and white images make the retina tremble. He has risked the critical jury, awarding two controversial bets, the so-called ‘After Blue’ and the disconcerting ‘Mad God’, Phil Tippett’s magna that is difficult to digest. The festival recovers verve in an exceptional edition. “Keep going, you have to create and build,” remarks its artistic director, Ángel Sala. “We must move forward, we must not stay where we were years ago.” The eye is already set on 2022.
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