Kim Ki-Duk's South Korean festival favourite Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...And Spring won best film and cinematography prizes at Spain's fifth annual Las Palmas International Film Festival (March 12-20).
Recuperating from the shock of the March 11 Madrid bombings, which saw opening night festivities cancelled, the festival picked up steam during the week with visits from celebrities such as honorary award recipients Mia Farrow and Omar Sharif, and actor Hayden Christensen.
The second annual, three-day EuroForum Co-Production Market (March 18-20) also benefited from coming at the festival's tail end. Organisers tallied some 400 meetings between representatives of 50 different companies from ten European countries.
Among the projects to elicit the most interest, organisers said, were Killer On The Road (UK), Diana (Port), Raiting (Sp), Take My Love And Run (Port), Bedford Heroes (It), The Rooftop (Sp), Lenin's Brain With Stuffed Zucchinis (Slov), The Four Seasons (Sp), 12 (Ger) and The Mole (Sp).
The festival's silver prize went to Sri Lankan director Prassana Vithanage's Ira Madiyama, which also won best actress for Nimmi Harisgama. Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard shared best actor kudos for their work in Billy Ray's Shattered Glass.
Argentinean Albertina Carri (Los Rubios) and Venezuela's Franco de Peña (Amor En Concreto) shared the best new director award, while Hugo Rodriguez's Mexican-Spanish-Argentinean co-production Nicotina won the public's prize.
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