"Tender Loving Care", by Mike Leigh, won the Golden Shell for best film at the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival, announced on Saturday at the closing ceremony in the Kursaal auditorium. The film left the festival with four prizes: the main award, best screenplay, also written by Leigh, best leading performance for Kate O'Flynn, and the Make & Mark prize.
Leigh, 83, was not in San Sebastián. He sent thanks in a video message from New York: "What a great honour, thank you for all the prizes. I love you very much."
An award that looks like the end of a career
The recognition arrives at a particular moment. At a press conference during the festival, the British director said "Tender Loving Care" would probably be his last film, for health reasons. Leigh had already won the Palme d'Or at Cannes with "Secrets & Lies" in 1996 and the Golden Lion in Venice with "Vera Drake" in 2004.
The leading performance award was shared: O'Flynn took the Silver Shell ex aequo with Asta Kamma August for "Markens grode" ("Growth of the Soil"). The same Nordic production won best cinematography, for Oskar Dahlsbakken.
The rest of the prize list
The Special Jury Prize went to "Bian jing" ("Border"), by Ah Biao. The Silver Shell for best director went to Amanda Kernell for "Brace Your Heart". Javier Cámara won the Silver Shell for supporting performance in "Cinco minutos más".
The new directors prize went to "Body of Glass", and the audience award to "La bola negra", by Los Javis — Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. In the strand devoted to Latin American cinema, the prize went to "La ilusión de un verano sin fin", by Alessandra Sanguinetti.
Rebordinos's last edition
The ceremony also closed the tenure of José Luis Rebordinos, who ran the festival for 15 years and was given a standing ovation by the audience. He will be succeeded by Maialen Beloki.
The two farewells together — the festival director's and the prize-winning film-maker's — gave the night a stock-taking tone that an awards ceremony rarely has.
With information from The Objective, Infobae and EscribiendoCine.
