“Volver a Riaño”, “Piscina vacía”, “Monster”, “Anoche volver a soñar” and “Wrath of the ravishing” take home the “Silucams” of the competition
European cinema was the big winner at the 9th Mequinenza International Film Festival (MIFF). The festival once again established itself as a confluence of cinema, a meeting point and forum for reflection on water, the festival's leitmotif, represented by the "Aiguabarreig," the natural area where the Cinca, Segre, and Ebro rivers meet, adjacent to the two large bodies of water that border the municipality: the Riba-roja and Mequinenza reservoirs.
The awards ceremony and closing event began with the presentation of honorary awards by the jury, of which there were three in this 2024 edition. The award for best actor went to the very young Yexiang Liao for his role in “Silent Storm,” a Chinese production directed by Grace Hsia; the award for best actress was given to Candela López-Villaseñor, star of the Aragonese production “Last Night I Dreamed Again,” directed by Raúl Prat from Altorricón; and the award for best cinematography went to the Colombian documentary “Wuinkat (Water),” by Óscar Darío Jiménez Escrucería.
The “Silucam” award, MIFF’s prize for best documentary, the Aragón TV award, went to “Volver a Riaño” (Returning to Riaño), by Miriam Martín. Its subject matter is very familiar to Mequinenza, and the jury highlighted “its powerful and emotionally evocative narrative that shows the transformation of a valley into a reservoir and its consequences.” The award for best fiction went to “La piscina vacía” (The Empty Swimming Pool), another Spanish production directed by Pablo Conte, “a charming comedy that tackles family and intergenerational conflicts with freshness and mastery.” The best animation award went to a German short film titled “Monster,” directed by Piers Goffart and Eric Giessmann, “a moving story for all audiences that, with tenderness and depth, explores self-acceptance and identity.”
The award for best Aragonese short film went to “Anoche volví a soñar” (Last Night I Dreamed Again), directed by Raúl Prat from the Alto Aragón region, “for a bold and artistic young directorial effort that stands out especially for its approach to filming a monologue through dialogue, staging, and dance.” The award for best western traveled to the United States, the birthplace of the genre, with “Wrath of the Ravishing,” directed by Craig Oulette, “for a western with a strong female presence and remarkable technical work.” The sixth and final award, the Audience Award “Antonio Blas,” given by the festival audience through their votes, went to “Con al agua al cuello” (Up to My Neck in Water), a short film shot in Mequinenza by local filmmaker Enrique Novials. The film tells the story of a post-Covid kidnapping involving a former police officer.
The awards ceremony was attended by some of the members of the international jury, including Igor Arán, Violeta Copons, Pol Cardona, Katie Lynn Stoddard, Enrique Novials, Sadie Duarte, and Gianpaolo Gentile, as well as Raquel Caballé, Councilor for Education, and Sheila Abella, Councilor for Tourism. The closing remarks were delivered by Javi Rodes, the Festival Director, who emphasized that the 2024 MIFF had once again demonstrated “the power of cinema to connect cultures, stories, and emotions from all over the world.” Darío Vidallet, Councilor for Culture, highlighted the significant commitment to culture that the Mequinenza City Council maintains throughout the year, paid tribute to Antonio Blas on the eighth anniversary of his passing, and thanked everyone involved in making the Festival possible, encouraging them to “work together next year on the tenth anniversary edition.”
