Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth walked away the top winner of the 27th annual edition of Portugal's Oporto Film Festival, better known as Fantasporto.
Oscar-winning Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno) picked up theFantasporto official selection's Grand Prix for best fantasy film - anhonour the Mexican director previously took home in 1994 for hisdebut feature Cronos, while Labyrinth lead Sergi Lopez won best actor.
It was a goodyear for Spanish and Asian films at Fantasporto. Fellow Spanish actressAriadna Gil, who also appears in Labyrinth, won best actress for herrole in Daniel Calparsoro's The Absent (Ausentes). Bong Joon-Ho wonbest director for The Host and while Danny and Oxide Pang took homebest special effects for Re-Cycle.
The specialjury prize went to Mexico's Historias Del Desencanto by directorAlejandro Valle. The UK's James Moran won best screenplay forSeverance, while Norway's Jens Lien won a special mention from the juryfor The Bothersome Man.
In theparallel Director's Week competition, Spanish title Crossing Borders(Un Franco, 14 Pesetas) won best film and best director for CarlosIglesias. Portugal's Artur Serra Araujo won a special jury prize forSuicide On Demand (Suicidio Encomendado), while best screenplay went toKim Fupzz Aakeson for Denmark's Pure Hearts.
Acting prizeswent to Jung-Woo Ha for Time and Isabella Leong for Isabella, a filmwhich also took home the festival's Orient Express award. Chen Kaigewon a special prize from the Orient Express jury for The Promise.
Fantasporto'sMelies D'Argent nods went to feature film Renaissance from ChristianVolkman and short film Finkle's Odyssey from Barney Clay. Finally, theCritics Jury granted its prize to Japanese director Satoshi Kon'sPaprika, while the festival's Audience Award went to Gyorgy Palfi'sTaxidermia.
Coinciding with the 25thanniversary of the release of Steven Spielberg's ET, actor Henry Thomasreceived a Career Award at Fantasporto, as did Rosanna Arquette and Ruyde Carvalho.
Nextyear's Fantasporto, running Feb 27-March 2, 2008, will include aretrospective of the work of Portuguese director Fernando Lopes and acycle dedicated to Danish cinema.
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