Juan Sebastián Mesa’s Lovers Go Home! and Val Jashari’s In A Manner Of Speaking have won San Sebastian’s WIP Latam and WIP Europa Industry Awards respectively, while Felipe Solari Yrigoyen’s The Amateurs took the best project award at the festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum.
The prizes were presented at a ceremony in San Sebastian last night (September 23), following three days of industry meetings at the Forum and screenings in the WIP showcases.
WIP Latam winner Lovers Go Home! is Colombian director Mesa’s third feature and centres on a Medellín webcam performer and a disabled US war veteran who develop an unexpected online intimacy before his decision to visit her turns fantasy into an uneasy physical encounter. Colombia’s Rhayuela Films and El Sol Ermitaño produce with Spain’s Potenza Producciones, Canada’s Camera Oscura and France’s Dublin Films.
Mesa’s debut The Nobodies won Venice Critics’ Week in 2016, while The Rust played in San Sebastian’s New Directors section in 2021.
The WIP Latam prize comes with post-production services, an English-subtitled DCP and distribution in Spain through A Contracorriente Films.
WIP Europa winner In A Manner of Speaking is Kosovar filmmaker Jashari’s feature debut. The Kosovo-Montenegro co-production follows an Albanian-American fugitive hiding in Prishtina who escapes a police raid by entering the apartment of a young woman also attempting to disappear. Kosovo’s WaveMaker Films produces with Montenegro’s Live Productions.
The WIP Europea prize covers post-production through to a DCP subtitled in English and Spanish, as well as distribution in Spain through A Contracorriente Films.
The €30,000 EGEDA Platino Industria Award for best WIP Latam went to Tatiana Huezo’s Mexico-Spain road movie Galerna. The film follows two casting directors travelling through remote Mexican communities in search of non-professional actors for a science-fiction production. Mexico’s Pimienta Films produces with Spain’s Elastica Films.
Huezo previously won a Cannes Un Certain Regard special mention for 2021’s Prayers For The Stolen and Berlin’s best director in the Encounters section and the festival’s documentary award for 2023 The Echo.
Felipe Solari Yrigoyen’s Chile-Argentina-Mexico project The Amateurs won the best project award at the 15th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum. Solari Yrigoyen’s feature debut, the ensemble black comedy unfolds at a lavish film memorabilia convention in a small Patagonian town. Quijote Films, Gentil Cine and Panorama Global produce.
The Forum’s €10,000 DALE! development award went to Ingrid Pokropek’s Argentina-Spain fantasy comedy The Illusions. It follows three Buenos Aires residents whose wishes are mistakenly exchanged by a shooting star, unleashing unexpected consequences.
Mexican director Selma Cervantes’ Mourning Sound received the €6,000 ArteKino International Prize. Produced by Teorema, it follows a woman returning to Mexico after her mother’s death and reconnecting with her estranged brother through their family’s tradition, DJing at popular neighbourhood dances.
Portuguese filmmaker Inês Nunes’ The Spirit Healer Is Away For The Weekend secured the Casa Wabi-Escine Award, consisting of a residency in Mexico.
Ekain Albite’s Spain-Georgia project Akira was a double winner, taking both the Tanta and Sideral awards at the Ikusmira Berriak residency programme. Albite’s first solo feature is a night-time road movie following two Georgian scrap dealers on a journey from an unfinished nuclear power plant near Bilbao to Georgia.
San Sebastian Industry Award winners 2026
WIP Europa Industry Award
In A Manner Of Speaking (Kos-Mon), dir: Val Jashari
Prod cos: WaveMaker Films, Live Productions
WIP Latam Industry Award
Lovers Go Home! (Col-Sp-Can-Fr), dir: Juan Sebastián Mesa
Prod cos: Rhayuela Films, Potenza Producciones, Camera Oscura, Dublin Films, El Sol Ermitaño
Latin America Co-Production Forum best project award
The Amateurs (Chile-Arg-Mex), dir: Felipe Solari Yrigoyen
Prod cos: Quijote Films, Gentil Cine, Panorama Global
DALE! Award
The Illusions (Arg-Sp), dir: Ingrid Pokropek
Prod cos: 36 Caballos, Jaibo Films, Montgó Films
ArteKino International Prize
Mourning Sound (Mex), dir: Selma Cervantes
Prod co: Teorema
Casa Wabi-Escine Award
The Spirit Healer Is Away For The Weekend (Port), dir: Inês Nunes
Prod co: Foi Bonita a Festa
Egeda Platino Industria Award For Best WIP Latam
Galerna (Mex-Sp), dir: Tatiana Huezo
Prod cos: Pimienta Films, Elastica Films
Tanta Award
Akira (Sp-Geor), dir: Ekain Albite
Prod cos: Maluta Films, Nushi Film
Sideral Award
Akira (Sp-Geor), dir: Ekain Albite
Prod cos: Maluta Films, Nushi Film
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