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San Sebastian Industry Prizes Announced After Week of Hybrid Pitching

Manuel Nieto’s trans-Atlantic co-production “The Employer and the Employee” scooped San Sebastian’s biggest industry prize this week, the EGEDA Platino Industria Award for the best Latin American work in progress. Its producers will receive $34,850 cash in kind to go towards finishing the film. Seven companies from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and France make up the ambitious co-production.

San Sebastian’s 2020 Industry section, like so many other events this year, was forced to adapt to a streaming model. However, the timing of the festival, coinciding with relaxed travel restrictions both from within and outside of Europe, allowed for part of the section to be held in person, creating a hybrid event that could prove a model for other festivals to emulate.

From this year’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, several significant cash prizes were handed out, with two $23,230 cash prizes going to both the DALE! Award winner, Marcelo Martinessi’s Luxbox-sold “Who Killed Narciso?” and Eurimages Development Co-Production Award winner, Martín Rejtman’s “Riders,” recently boarded by Germany’s Pandora.

Benjamín Naishtat’s Argentine Project “Pobres Pibes,” produced by Pucará Cine, scooped the Development Latin America Co-Pro Forum Best Project Award of $11,620, while Camila Beltrán’s Colombia-France co-production “The Day of My Beast” took the Artekino International Prize and its $6,970 purse.

In association with the Producers Network of Cannes’ Marché du Film, three projects were selected for a trip to Buenos Aires – travel conditions permitting – to pitch in Ventana Sur’s Proyteca section: from Hungary, András Muhi’s “Hen,” produced by Focusfox; from Spain, Ignacio Vuelta Martínez’s “The Anatomy of the Horse,” produced by 93 Metros; and Claire Charles-Gervais’ French project “Nearness,” produced by In Vivo Films.

Back at the Works in Progress, Ivan Fund’s “Dusk Stone” was the week’s other big winner from Spanish-speaking America, taking the WIP Latam Industry Award, granted by a raft of companies who will back the post-production of the film, including the addition of English subtitles, as well as eventual distribution in Spain. It’s produced by Rita Cine, Insomnia Films and Globo Rojo Films.

From the WIP Europa sidebar, Selman Nacar’s “Between Two Dawns” was the big, and only, winner, taking both the WIP Europa Industry Award – the same as the Latam version but for a majority European co-production, and the WIP Europa Award, with a cash prize of $11,620. Featured by Variety, the film is produced by Turkey’s Kuyu Film.

Selected from the 2020 Ikusmira Berriak residency projects, Diego Céspedes’ Chilean film “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” produced by Quijote Films, was awarded with the Irusion Postproduction Award.

Sørfond Pitching Forum, an annual event organized during the Films from the South festival in November in Oslo, Norway has invited project “Anhell69” from director Theo Montoya to pitch at their event in December. A hybrid-documentary, the project is produced by Desvío Visual in Colombia, 996 Films in Argentina and Monogram Film in Romania.

The week’s only award granted not to a film, but to a technological innovation, this year’s Zinemaldia Startup Challenge winner was FilmChain from the U.K. The AI software, said to be able to predict box office outcomes, won a package of prizes, including $12,000 cash, free access for a year to an incubation space within the Basque Country Technology Park Network and access to development financing of nearly $600,000.

2020 SAN SEBASTIAN INDUSTRY AWARDS

IX EUROPE-LATIN AMERICA CO-PRODUCTION FORUM AWARDS

PROJECTS SELECTED TO PITCH AT VENTANA SUR’S PROYECTA

“Hen,” (András Muhi (Focusfox,) Hungary)

“The Anatomy of the Horse,” (Ignacio Vuelta Martínez (93 Metros,) Spain)

“Nearness,” (Claire Charles-Gervais (In Vivo Films,) France)

DEVELOPMENT LATIN AMERICA CO-PRODUCTION FORUM BEST PROJECT AWARD

“Pobres Pibes,” (Benjamín Naishtat, Argentina)

DALE! AWARD (DEVELOPMENT LATIN AMERICA-EUROPE)

“Who Killed Narciso?” (Marcelo Martinessi, Paraguay, Germany, France)

EURIMAGES DEVELOPMENT CO-PRODUCTION AWARD

“Riders,” (Martín Rejtman, Argentina, Portugal)

ARTEKINO INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

“The Day of My Beast,” (Camila Beltrán, Colombia, France)

WIP LATAM AWARDS

WIP LATAM INDUSTRY AWARD

“Dusk Stone,” (Ivan Fund, Argentina, Chile)

EGEDA PLATINO INDUSTRIA AWARD FOR THE BEST WIP LATAM

“The Employer and the Employee,” (Manuel Nieto, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, France)

WIP EUROPA AWARDS

WIP EUROPA INDUSTRY AWARD

“Between Two Dawns,” (Selman Nacar, Turkey, France, Romania)

WIP EUROPA AWARD

“Between Two Dawns”

IKUSMIRA BERRIAK AWARD

IRUSOIN POST-PRODUCTION AWARD

“The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” (Diego Céspedes, Chile)

ZINEMALDIA STARTUP CHALLENGE AWARD

FilmChain, (U.K.)

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