About the Pink Sky wins top prize at Gijon

About The Pink Sky, the story of a Japanese teenager who makes a newspaper that only gives good news, has won the 50th edition of the Gijón Film Festival (which ended Nov 25). Shot in black and white and directed by Keiichi Kobayashi, the film was introduced at Sundance 2912 and won the Japanese Eyes prize at Tokyo International Film Festival.

The jury gave its top prize after three hours of deliberation and said that results were very close. Another Asian film, Barbie by Korea’s Lee Sang-woo, won for best director. The film tells the story of an American family who travels to South Korea to adopt a child.

Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills, the tragic story of what happens when a new woman arrives into a monastery in Romania, won the Special Prize of the Jury.

Afghan-France co-production The Patience Stone won the FIPRESCI prize, the young jury award and Goshifteh Farahani, director and star of the film won as best actress. The film tells the story of a woman who confesses to her wounded husband in a coma the inner secrets of their marriage.

The Israeli film Epilogue, about an old and poor couple in contemporary Israel, won the prize for best script to also director Amir Manor and best actor for Yosef Carmon. The “Gil Parron prize” for best art direction has been for Dragan Denda for his work in Djeca, a Bosnian film.

The jury was formed by Argentinian-Spanish actor Ernesto Alterio, editor José Salcedo, script writer Lola Salvador and director Amir Naderi’s producer, the US based Iranian Farid Bozorgmehr.

This anniversary edition was marked by the destitution of José Luis Cienfuegos as director last January and an international campaign of directors as Pedro Almodóvar, Atom Egoyan or Carlos Reygadas who signed a manifesto to protest. It was the first opportunity for the new chief, Nacho Carballo, who worked as assistant director for José Luis Garci and has kept his promise to maintain the “indie” spirit of the festival.