‘Cinco Lobitos’ and ‘Utama’, Golden Biznagas of the 25th Malaga Festival

He Malaga Festival clausura su 25ª edición, posiblemente la más ambiciosa e internacional, reconociendo a Five Little Wolves y Utama con las Biznagas de Oro.

He Malaga Festival ha puesto el broche de oro a su 25 edición con su tradicional gala donde tiene lugar la entrega de las biznagas a los ganadores del certamen, que este año ha estado conducida por Fiorella Faltoyano. Desde el Teatro Cervantes, the actress has taken stock of the event while continuing to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people: “The only thing that has been able to with the magic of fiction is the cruelty of this war,” she stated.

The main protagonists of the night have been the award-winning teams from all the sections that make up the Festival. Lauda Rúiz de Azúa, director of Five Little Wolves has collected the Biznaga de Oro for the best Spanish film. She has been very excited “on one of the most special nights of her life” and enormously grateful to both the jury and her team. He has assured that he was not aware of how far he could go with this feature film, which has also received the Biznagas for the best female performance Ex aequo for the interpretive work of its actresses Laia Costa y Susi Sanchez, the Biznaga for best script and the Special Audience Award.

On the other hand, producers Marcos Loayza, Santiago Loayza y Federico Moreira have collected the Biznaga de Oro for the best Ibero-American film and the Silver Biznaga for the best direction granted to Alejandro Loayza Grisi by Utama, his debut feature, which tells the fight for survival of an elderly Quechua couple who are forced to separate due to the consequences of climate change. The film has also won the Biznaga at the Best Music.

The actor Nicolás Poblete has won the Silver Biznaga for Best Supporting Actor, who was moved when remembering the social dimension of his role in private messages, while the Best Female Supporting Performance Debora Maria da Silva has taken it for The mother (The mother). Completing the record is the Silver Biznaga to the Best Photography, which has gone to Nicolás Wong Díaz by The Gigantes; the Silver Biznaga Best Assembly, for Rodrigo Saquel by private messages; and the Silver Biznaga to the best male performance has been for Leonardo Sbaraglia, for his interpretation in Almost in Love (Ámame).

Tributes from the 25th Malaga Festival

The Biznaga of Honor has been awarded to the director Carlos Remains, one of the great talents that Spain has produced not only from a cinematographic perspective, but also from a literary or theatrical perspective. The director and film critic has also been recognized with his own Biznaga de Oro. Fernando Méndez-Leite, en reconocimiento a su trabajo en el Festival de Málaga. Otros premios otorgados durante el festival son el Premio Málaga – Sur, para el conjunto del cine español representado por la Academia de Cine; el Premio Retrospectiva – Málaga Hoy, para la actriz argentina Mercedes Morán; el Premio Málaga Talent – La Opinión de Málaga, para Javier Ambrossi y Javier Calvo; el Premio Ricardo Franco – Academia de Cine, dedicado a los oficios del cine, para la directora de producción Sol Carnicero; o la Biznaga Ciudad del Paraíso, para los imprescindibles del cine español, que se le entregará al actor Miguel Rellán.

La Película de Oro del 25 Festival de Málaga ha sido The Wolf Forest, a 1970 classic by Pedro Olea that will serve as a tribute to the actor José Luis López Vázquez on the centenary of his birth.

Industry at Malaga Festival

Another of the axes of this Malaga Festival has been the area MAFIZ Industry, made up of events that promote the financing, co-production, distribution and sale of cinema in Spanish, all from the support and promotion of new Ibero-American audiovisual talent in its consideration as a transversal objective for this broad industrial area.

After two online editions, it has returned in person Málaga Work in Progress y MAFF (Málaga Festival Fund & Coproduction Event), centrado en los fondos internacionales que aportan financiación al cine latinoamericano, junto a Hack Málaga, un nuevo evento dedicado al talento emergente en las nuevas plataformas y redes sociales. También ha destacado el mercado audiovisual Spanish Screenings, que en esta edición ha presentado un renovado impulso gracias a la dotación presupuestaria enmarcada en el Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia para reforzar el papel de España como hub audiovisual de Europa. Así, con el Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte a través el ICAA, y el Ministerio de Asuntos Económicos y Transformación Digital a través de ICEX, este evento ha adoptado un nuevo formato para convertirse en Spanish Screenings XXL, un mercado internacional para la producción audiovisual española.

Palmarés de cortometrajes y otros premios

Sección oficial de Cortometrajes Documentales

• Mejor Cortometraje Documental – Victoria, de Eloisa Díez
• Mención especial del Jurado – Fe, by Maider Fernández; A wind brushes your door, by Jorge Castrillo, and Pablo Paloma; The day they blew up the mountain, by Alba Bresolí.
• Audience Award – Documentary Short Film – Every Sunday, by Alberto Dexeus

Official Fiction Short Film Section

• Best Fiction Short Film – breakerby Eloy Dominguez
• Best direction – Rafael Martínez, for Raw
• Best Female Performance – Anna Caponnetto, for Property
• Special mention from the Jury – Verónica Andrés, for Thoroughbred
• Best male performance – Julián Villagrán, for Property
• Special Mention from the Jury – Emilio Pacheco and Jaime Crespo, for The kennel
• Audience Award – Property, by Julia de Paz.

Official Animazine short film section

• Best animated short film – Loop, by Pablo Polledri
• Audience Award (animation) – Loop, by Pablo Polledri

Official Malaga Short Film Section

• Best Fiction Short Film – Masaru, by Ruben Navarro
• Best Documentary, Animated or Experimental Short Film – Romeo, by Sara G. Cortijo
• Audience Award – Moron, by Roberto Cano.

Other Awards

• ZonaZine Film Schools Award for best feature film – Isosceles, by Ignacio Nacho
• UMA Young Jury Award for Best Official Section Feature Film – Five Little Wolves, by Alauda Ruíz de Azúa
• Asecan First Feature Award from the Official Feature Film Section – Five Little Wolves, by Alauda Ruíz de Azúa
• Feroz Puerta Oscura 2022 Award for Best Feature Film in the Official Selection – Five Little Wolves, by Alauda Ruíz de Azúa
• Premio Signis – Five Little Wolves, by Alauda Ruíz de Azúa