Gijón 59th FICX Edition Brings Back Audiences To Theaters

Spain’s Gijón-Xixón International Film Festival (FICX) concluded this weekend, bringing to Asturias audiences a vibrant variety of local and international films, adding recent awarded screenings of San Sebastian winner “Maixabel” (Icíar Bollaín) and CamerImage winner “C’mon C’mon” (Mike Mills) to the official FICX selection.

“Social Hygiene,” directed by Denis Côte, proved the festival’s top Albar section winner, adding to the best director prize he won at the latest Berlinale Encounters for this performance-driven comedy which  comment about social media today, Côté told Variety.

The Retueyos main award was given to “Zero F***s Given” (Emmanuelle Marre, Julia Lecoustre) for “making visible the people behind dehumanized companies,” explained the jury. The story follows a young flight attendant and is a reflection on workers’ life.

“Palestra,” from Basovih Marinaro and Sofia Jallinsky, earned the Terres en Trance/Fipresci feature film award.

The Albar official selection boasted 12 films,  including Cannes player “The Fracture” (Catherine Corsini), Berlinale standout “Professor Bachmann and His Class”(Maria Speth), and “18 1/2,” a European premiere from U.S. director and Slamdance IFF co-founder Dan Mirvish. The Retueyos official selection held Spanish premieres for Sweden’s “Ninjababy” (Yngvild Sve Flikke), Romania’s “Inmaculat” (Monica Stan, George Chiper-Lillemark), and U.S. comedy “El Planeta” (Amalia Ulman) among its 10 international films. “

We try to step it up to become an place of interest for distributors,” said Alejandro Diaz, the festival’s director. Last year, over 30 films got distribution deals after the festival, he added.

French actress Chiara Mastroianni  (“Ma saison préférée,” “Americano”) earned the FICX prize of honor, delivered by director Lisandro Alonso (“Jauja”). Mastroianni’s joined Viggo Mortensen on “Eureka,” Alonso’s latest project. Mastroianni and Alonso shared the stage at an open-mic event at the festival.

Aiming to become a networking hub, the festival’s own FICXpro partnered with Asturias Paraíso Natural Film Commission for a guided tour of Gijon’s landscapes. Other FICX activities included a masterclass from director Ainhoa Rodríguez and several other events.

Asturias Paraiso Natural Film Commission has participated in more than 120 shoots since 2020’s pandemic restart. Shoots include Santiago Segura’s “A todo tren,” the biggest Spanish release this year in Spain.

ALBAR BEST FEATURE FILM

“Social Hygiene” (Denis Côte; Canada)

ALBAR SPECIAL MENTION

“Întregalde” (Radu Muntean; Romania)

ALBAR SPECIAL JURY AWARD

“In Front of Your Face” (Hong Sang-soo; Korean Republic)

ALBAR DISTRIBUTION AWARD

“The First 54 years. An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation” (Avi Mograbi; France, Finland, Israel, Germany)

RETUEYOS BEST FEATURE FILM

“Zero F***s Given” (Emmanuelle Marre, Julie Lecoustre; Belgium, France)

RETUEYOS AISGE AWARD BEST ACTRESS

Anastasia Budiashkina (“Olga”; Swistzerland, France, Ukraine)

RETUEYOS AISGE AWARD BEST ACTOR

Jean Michel Lemoine (“Poulet Frites”; France, Belgium)

RETUEYOS DISTRIBUTION AWARD

“Neptune Frost” (Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman; USA, Ruanda)

TIERRES EN TRANCE/FIPRESCI BEST FEATURE FILM

“Palestra” (Basovih Marinaro, Sofia Jallinsky; Argentina)

TIERRES EN TRANCE/FIPRESCI AWARD BEST DIRECTOR

María Álvarez (“Las cercanas”; Argentina)

ASTURIAS BEST SHORT FILM PRIZE

“Train Again” (Peter Tscherkassky; Austria)

ASTURIAS SHORT FILM JURY SPECIAL MENTION

“Otacustas” (Mercedes Gavira; Argentina, Colombia)

YOUTH JURY BEST FILM RETUEYOS SECTION

“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” (Jane Schoenbrun; USA)

YOUNG JURY AWARD BEST SHORT FILM OFFICIAL SELECTION

“Bato Nebo” (Luzia John; Austria, Georgia)

BEST SPANISH FEATURE FILM

“Una película sobre parejas” (Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada; Dominican Rep.)

RCservice AWARD BEST DIRECTOR SPANISH FEATURE FILM

Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada (“una película sobre parejas”; Dominican Rep.)

ALMA AWARD BEST SCREENPLAY  SPANISH FEATURE FILM

“Una película sobre parejas” (Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada; Domincan Rep.)

DELUXE DCP AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR SPANISH FEATURE FILM

Joan Tisminetzky (“D’Ombres”; Spain)

CIMA AWARD BEST FEATURE FILM DIRECTED BY A WOMAN

“Captain Volkonogov escaped” (Natasha Merkulova, Alejsey Chupoy; Rusia, Estonia, France)

RTPA AWARD BEST ASTURIAN FEATURE FILM

“Shooting for Mirza” (Juan Gautier; Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina)

RTPA ASTURIES CURTIUMETRAXES COMPETITION AWARD

“Epokhe” (Elmer Guevara; Spain)

RTPA ASTURIES CURTIUMETRAXES COMPETITION SPECIAL MENTION

“Nyami Nyami” (David Rodríguez; Spain)

LABORAL CINEMATECA SHORTFILM AWARD

“Manual de la siega” (Samuel Fernandi; Spain)

RAMBAL PRIZE

“Moneyboys” (C.B. Yi; Austria France Taiwan Belgium)

RAMBAL SPECIAL MENTION

“La fracture” (Catherine Corsini; France)

ENFANTS TERRIBLES AWARD BEST FEATURE FILM

“La estrella de los simios” (Linda Hambäc; Norway, Sweden, Denmark)

AUDIENCE AWARD

“La fracture” (Catherine Corsini; France)

AUDIENCE AWARD TERREN EN TRANCE COMPETITION FOR DISTRIBUTION

“Welcome to ma maison” (Andrés Goteira; Spain)

YOUNG EUROPE AWARD

“Ninjababy” (Yngvild Sve Flikke; Norway)

MOVISTAR+ PLUS SHORTFILM PROYECT + PECERA STUDIO – FREE YOUR MIND 2021 PRIZE

“El pensamiento mágico” (Eva Saiz)

NEW FILMMAKERS AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE PRIZE

“Un verano sin pájaros” (Celia Viada Caso)

PUSH PLAY WIP DCP DELUXE PRIZE

“Sobre las nubes” (María Aparicio)

OpenECAM WIP PRIZE

“Puerperio” (Pilar Álvarez)

FICX PRO LAB – OpenECAM WIP

“Hablar de estas cosas” (Fernando Lorenzana)

ASTURIAS PARAÍSO NATURAL FILM COMMISION INCENTIVE

“Cartografías del monte” (Samuel Fernandi)