The Belgian short film “Tokyo Giants” wins the grand prize at ZINEBI 55

Nicolas Provost's work wins the top award at the Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival.

The Belgian fiction short film Tokyo Giants, written and directed by Nicolas Provost, has won the Grand Prize at the 55th edition of the Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival, ZINEBI. The 23-minute film shows the search for the mystery of reality in the streets of Tokyo, through a story in which the paths of a serial killer, a rapist, a terrorist, a cultured man and a Jakuza cross. It so happens that Belgium repeats as the winner's country of origin, since last year the Belgian short film “Atomes”, written and directed by Arnaud Dufeys, won the award.

For their part, “Democracy” (fiction), by Borja Cobeaga, and “Secretos de Unicornio” (animation), by Alberto Vázquez, have won ex aequo the Basque Film Grand Prix. Likewise, “Souvenir” (documentary), by Gerardo Carreras, has won the Spanish Cinema Grand Prix. In addition, the Argentine Mónica Lairana has won the Award for Best Latin American Film thanks to her work titled “María”. In this edition of Zinebi, a total of 67 films have competed in the Official Section.

The award was presented this morning by the ZINEBI 55 jury, made up this year of the Danish documentary director Pernille Rose Grønkjær, the young Portuguese filmmaker Salomé Lamas, the Spanish filmmaker Oliver Laxe, the multidisciplinary creator from San Sebastian Itziar Okariz and the Nicaraguan journalist and filmmaker Marcela Zamora Chamorro.

The closing gala of the 55th edition of ZINEBI, which will be presented by the actor Aitor Mazo, will take place this afternoon at the Arriaga Theater, where all the awards and the Honorary Mikeldi will be presented to the film director Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, who will collect it from the hands of the great actress Ángela Molina, one of the usual faces in the Cantabrian filmmaker's filmography.

By genres

In the documentary film section, the Golden Mikeldi went to the film “Gwizdek” (Poland, 2012. 17’), by Grzegorz Zariczny, while the documentaries “Ánima” (Belgium), by Simon Gillard, and “A beira de Lisboa” (Switzerland), by Pablo Briones, have achieved ex aequo the Silver Mikeldi.

Two films have won ex aequo the Golden Mikeldi for best fiction film: “Sunny” (Germany, 2013. 29’), by Barbara Ott, and “Man kann nIcht alles auf einmal tun, aber man kann alles auf einmal lassen” (Switzerland, 2013. 15’), by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo. The Silver Mikeldi in this category has gone to “Mahjong” (Portugal)), by Joäo Pedro Rodrígues and Joäo Rui Guerra Da Mata.

In the animation section, the Golden Mikeldi went to the film “Outro Homem Qualquer” (Portugal, 2012. 11’), by Luis Soares, while the German film “Sonntag 3” (Germany, 2013. 14’), by Jochen Kuhn, won the Silver Mikeldi.

Other awards

At ZINEBI 55, other awards are also given, beyond the official honors list. The Audience Award (awarded by EITB) went to the film “Loco con Ballesta”, by Kepa Sojo. In addition, the SGAE and the Association of Basque Screenwriters award a prize for the Best Basque Screenplay, won this year ex aequo by “Loco con ballesta”, by Kepa Sojo and “Sangre de Unicornio”, by Alberto Vázquez. The FAS Cinema Club Award, for its part, went to “Democracia”, by Borja Cobeaga. Furthermore, the Azkue Fundazioa Foundation Award for Best Film in Basque, a novelty at ZINEBI 55, went to “Arconada”, by Asier Urbieta. Finally, UNICEF recognizes the Ukrainian work “Vanya” by Oksana Artemenko through an award.

Palmares ZINEBI 55

• GRAND PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY AND SHORT FILM FESTIVAL OF BILBAO ZINEBI 55. TOKYO GIANTS / Nicolas Provost (Belgium)
• MIKELDI DE ORO ANIMACIÓN.Outro Any Man / Luis Soares (Portugal)
• SILVER MIKELDI ANIMATION. Sonntag 3 / Jochen Kuhn (Germany)
• MIKELDI DE ORO FICCIÓN (Ex aequo) Sunny / Barbara Ott (Alemania) y You can't do everything at once, but you can leave everything at once / Marie-Elsa Sgualdo (Suiza)
• MIKELDI OF SILVER FICTION. Mahjong / John Pedro Rodriguez and John Rui Guerra Da Mata (Portugal)
• MIKELDI DE ORO DOCUMENTAL. Whistle / Grzegorz Zariczny (Poland)
• DOCUMENTARY SILVER MIKELDI (Ex aequo). Ánima / Simon Gillard (Belgium) and A Beira de Lisboa / Pablo Briones (Switzerland)
• BASQUE CINEMA GRAND PRIZE (Ex aequo). Democracy / Borja Cobeaga and Unicorn Blood / Alberto Vázquez
• GRAND PRIZE OF SPANISH CINEMA. Souvenir / Gerardo Carreras (Spain)
• GRAND PRIZE FOR THE BEST LATIN AMERICAN FILM: María / Mónica Lairana (Argentina)