John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush and Christine Froeseth won top acting awards at Spain’s famous Sitges Fantasy Film Festival, which concluded its 57th edition on October 13.
The festival was swept with three awards, the Academy Award for Best Austrian International Film, for the film “The Devil’s Bath” by directors Veronica Franz and Severin Fiala. Derived from historical facts, the Austro-German co-production is described by diverse Critic Jessica Kiang called it “a story so bleak you might want to look away from it; the craft of filmmaking is so compelling that you can’t.” The historical horror drama, which competed for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in February, revolves around Agnes, a married woman. A newly depressed woman who, instead of committing suicide, which her Christian community considers taboo, commits a crime that could lead to her execution. The practice of “suicide by proxy” is said to have been common in the 17th and 18th centuries in Central Europe and German-speaking Scandinavia.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Sui Chiang took home the Best Director award for Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, a martial arts crime drama based on the novel City of Darkness. It was selected for a midnight screening at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received critical acclaim.
Lithgow and Rush shared the best actor award for their roles in The Rule of Jenny Penn, in which they played two men in a nursing home who engage in an increasingly violent rivalry.
Kristin Froseth won Best Actress for her performance in the time-travel thriller “Desert Road,” Shannon Triplett’s directorial debut. Frost plays Claire Devoire, a twenty-something photographer whose journey across the desert becomes more sinister and confusing than ever.
The 57th Sitges Fantasy Film Festival took place from 3 to 13 October.
Winners of the fifty-seventh edition award:
Official competition
Feature film
“The Devil’s Bath”, Veronica Franz, Severin Fiala
Special Jury Prize
“Exhoma”, Jang Jae-hyun
direction
Sui Xiang, “Twilight Warriors: Besieged”
Actress
Kristin Froseth for “Desert Road”
representative (equal)
John Lithgow, “Jenny Penn’s Rule”
Geoffrey Rush. “Jenny Penn Rule”
scenario
Aaron Shimberg, “A Different Man”
Special effects, visuals or make-up
Digital Zone Equipment, Machina Infinitum, “Else”
music
“Witches” Freewaka
Cinematography
Giovanni Ribisi for “The Strange Lover”
New insights
film
“Desert” by Joshua Erkman
direction
Grazia Tricarico, “Odyssey of the Body”
Short film
“Say woo!”, Fabian Podeszwa
Méliès d’Argent
A wonderful feature film
“The Animal” by Emma Benestan
A short film in the European fantasy genre
“Meat Puppet” Eros F
Doesn’t stir
“The Snail Diary” by Adam Elliott
Short animated film
“Free the Chickens” by Matos Vizar
Orbit
Feature film
“Zero” by Jean-Luc Herbulo
Blood window
Feature film
“Brutal” Camila Beltran
Critic Jury
film
“The Devil’s Bath” by Veronica Franz and Severin Fiala
Citizen Kane Award for Best New Director
Another Thibault Amin
Short film
“Chew,” Felix Daubert
Brigadoon Awards
Brigadoon Paul Naschi Award for Best Short Film
“Central” Luso Martinez
SGAE New Opus
Production direction (past equality)
“Blava Terra”, Marine Auclair
“Darrow/n” Benjamin Hendricks
scenario
Benjamin Hendricks, “daro/n”
Original music
Yulia Protasova, “De-sastre”
Young Jury Card
Feature film
“The Devil’s Bath” by Veronica Franz and Severin Fiala
Sitges documentary
“Grand Theft Hamlet” by Benny Grylls and Sam Crane
People’s Choice Award
Feature film
“My Beloved is a Stranger” by GT Molner
Panorama Fantastic People’s Choice Award
“Handsome Men” by Dong Hyup Nam
Sitges Collection People’s Choice Award
“Dead Talent Society” Jun Hanqiang Hsu
Fox Asian Audience Choice Award
“Dead Talent Society” Jun Hanqiang Hsu
People’s Choice Award Midnight X-treme
“Die Alone” by Will Dean