French-Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis’s “Dao,” a sweeping family saga that spans Europe and Africa, was awarded the Golden Spike for Best Film at Spain’s 71st Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINSI), while Marine Atlan’s acclaimed debut “La Gradiva” took home the Silver Spike.
Set between a wedding in France and an ancestral memorial ceremony in Guinea-Bissau, Gomis’s three-hour film blurs fiction and documentary, assembling a vast cast of professional and non-professional actors to explore the pull of family ties, migration, and inherited traditions. The international jury praised the film’s distinctive cinematic form, citing its use of rhythm, duration and pace to create an intimate yet intense atmosphere.
“Dao,” which had its world premiere in competition in Berlin, marks Gomis’ return to fiction features following “Félicité,” winner of the 2017 Berlin Grand Jury Prize. While reviewing the new movie, DiversityGuy Lodge called it the director’s “most vibrantly detailed and accessible” work. Party Film Sales handles international sales while Janus Films has North American distribution rights.
Atlan’s “La Gradiva” premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, where it won its top Grand Prix, before receiving the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Bright Horizons Award in August. In Valladolid, the French-Italian feature also won the Jose Salcedo Editing Award for Guillaume Lillo and Rainbow Spike, recognizing LGBTQ-related cinema.
‘La Gradiva’ Courtesy of Valladolid International Film Festival
Set during a French school trip to Naples and Pompeii, the film follows a group of teenagers dealing with desire, insecurity, and the final moments of adolescence. “Seismically sensitive and deeply poignant,” wrote Diversity Critic Jessica Kiang called it “one of the most accurate and profound portrayals ever” of that uncertain era. MK2 Films represents international sales.
Argentinian filmmaker Lisandro Alonso, whose credits include “Jauja” and “Eureka,” earned a Ribera del Duero Best Director award for “Double Freedom,” the well-received sequel to his 2001 debut “Freedom,” sold by Luxbox.
Acting honors went to Alba Rohrwacher for Stephen Bridges’ “A Good Little Soldier”, in which she played a corporate executive trapped in a profit-at-any-cost arrangement, and Swann Arlaud for Emmanuel Marre’s “A Man of His Time”, about a French engineer involved in the Vichy regime.
Marray’s film also won a cinematography award for Olivier Boonzing. Austrian filmmaker Sandra Wollner won the Miguel Delibes Screenplay Award for “Everytime,” a drama that explores grief and memory through digital technology. The official contest jury gave special mention to Tiago Guedes’s “Aqui”.
Beyond the main competition, Thai filmmaker Sompot Chidgasornpongse won the Meeting Point award for “9 Temples to Heaven,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. The contemplative family pilgrimage drama marks the fiction-feature debut of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s longtime collaborator. Marc Ferrer’s “Cinemania” received the Fundos Award, while Manon Koubia won the ESCAC Directing Award for “Forest High”.
Spanish debut “Salén las Lobas” emerged as a double audience favourite, receiving both the Meeting Point Audience Award and the Seminsi Youth Award. Directed by Claudia Estrada Tarasco, the film tells the story of girls in a juvenile justice facility who bond over music and dream of a Barcelona trap competition. Produced by Alba Sotorra’s Oceanica, it is sold internationally by Morethan Films and is set for Spanish theatrical release on December 11 through Silencio Cinema.
In the Alchemy section, Ivan Markovic’s “Promised Spaces”, a portrait of Cambodia’s rapidly changing urban landscape, took the Grand Prize. David Bout’s “Benigno,” about an elderly man preserving an endangered way of life in the Canary Islands, received a special mention and an environmental green spike.
Hassan Farahani’s Algerian-France production “Elia Jacarandas” won the Time of History Grand Prize, while the Special Prize went to Mariano Linas’s “Life of Jorge Luis Borges”. Isabelle Steuer’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming” received the FIPRESCI Critics Award, while Markus Schlenzer’s “Rose” won the main competition Audience Award.
Seminsi unveiled its winners on Saturday morning in Valladolid after organizers canceled the traditional closing ceremony following a deadly train crash in the province of Toledo. Held October 23–31, the 71st edition of the festival was led by interim co-directors Mariona Viader and Javier H. Estrada following the death of José Luis Cienfuegos last December.
Organizers reported a provisional viewership of 100,000, over 120 film discussions and participation by over 90% of directors in its official sections. The festival concluded with the Spanish premiere of Gael García Bernal’s “Hombre al Agua”.
More Awards:
official competition
golden spike
Ellen Gomis, “Dao”
silver nail
Marine Atlan, “La Gradiva”
Ribera del Duero Award for Best Director
Lisandro Alonso, “Double Freedom”
best Actress
Alba Rohrwacher, “A Good Little Soldier”
best Actor
Swan Arlod, “A Man of His Time”
Best Cinematography
Oliver Boonzing, “A Man of His Time”
Miguel Delibes Award for Best Screenplay
Sandra Wollner, “Everytime”
Jose Salcedo Award for Best Editing
Guillaume Lillo, “La Gradiva”
Special mention
Tiago Guedes, “Aqui”
meeting point
meeting point awards
Sompot Chidgasornpongse, “9 Temples of Heaven”
Fundos Award
Mark Ferrer, “Cinemania”
ESCAC Award for Best Director
Manon Koubia, “Forest High”
alchemy
Grand Prize
Ivan Markovic, “The Promised Place”
Special mention
David Boutte, “Benigno”
time of history
Grand Prize
Hassan Farahani, “Elia Jacarandas”
special award
Mariano Llinas, “Life of Jorge Luis Borges”
Doctor. spain awards
Eloy Enciso Cachafiro, “Letter from an Internal Exile”
Special mention
Beatrice Gibson, “At Night”
Other Feature Awards
Pilar Miró Award for Best New Spanish Director
Sebastian Urrea, “Adios, Rios”
minimincy awards
Javier Martínez and Christian Garnez, “Momonsters. Película de Navidad”
SEMINSI YOUTH AWARD
Claudia Estrada Tarasco, “Salen Las Lobas”
short film awards
golden spike
Aranas Balkinas, “Class Photo”
first silver spike
Blanca Camel Galli, “First Fire”
Second Silver Spike
Natalia Marin, “Chronicle of exhaustion”
Best European Short Film
Vannes Vanspoven and Pol de Plecker, “Pithead”
Best Spanish Short Film
Mariona Martínez, “L’Entrerament de la Sardina”
Castilla y Leon Short Film Award
Juan Carlos Mostaza, “Under the Lake”
non-official awards
rainbow spike
Marine Atlan, “La Gradiva”
green spike
David Boutte, “Benigno”
FIPRESCI Awards
Isabelle Stiver, “I rarely wake up dreaming”
Audience Award – International Competition
Marcus Schlenzer, “Rose”
Audience Award – Rendezvous
Claudia Estrada Tarasco, “Salen Las Lobas”
Youth Jury Award
International competition
Lance Hammer, “Queen at Sea”
meeting point
Jacqueline Lentzow, “A Day in the Life of Joe: Chapter Phaedra”
Best Short Film
Francisco Visceral Rivera, “El Tamagotchi Escarlata”