Uncompromising pure and simple terror reigned supreme in honor of Sitges Festival 2023. ‘When evil is hidden’ by Argentinian Demián RugnaIt was the best film of the competition, according to the jury consisting of producers Jérôme Paillard and David C. Fein, actress Ana Torrent, and critics Kim Newman and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. “We love horror movies,” Newman said. “And sometimes we feel like they don’t get the recognition they deserve.” ‘When Evil Stalks’ became the first Latin American film to win the Sitges festival. It also leaves the festival with the Blood Window award for the best Ibero-American film.
““I’m tired of horror movies designed to sell.”Rugna said in an interview with El Periódico de Catalunya of the Prensa Ibérica group a few days ago. “I never make a product. When I write a movie, anything can happen. And it can happen to any character.” Neither women, children nor dogs are spared from evil in this grim tale of the arrival of a demonic plague in rural Argentina. The jury’s other two favorites were Weston Razooli’s ‘The Riddle of Fire’ and Aritz Moreno’s ‘Moscas’, which received a special mention.
The rebirth of French genre cinema
The official fantasy jury gave its special award to ex aequo. ‘Stop motion’by Robert Morgan, “for his imaginative exploration of the dark side of creativity” and ‘Vermin: plague’Heller-Nicholas said “because it’s a powerful and political monster movie” by Sébastien Vaniček. Another important headline from the reborn and fantastic French environmentalist: ‘‘animal kingdom’won the award for best special effects. Big Kate Lyn Sheil (the great presence of late American ‘independent’ cinema) was recognized as best actress for her work in ‘The Seeding’; The young hero of ‘Tiger Stripes’, Zafreen Zairizalis specially mentioned.
In addition to ‘When Evil Stalks’, this edition also had a multi-award winning film. ‘Mursur’A delicate origin-vampire tale by Romain de Saint-Blanquat, which won the Méliès d’Argent for best film, the Carnet Jove jury prize and the award for best photography. French-Belgian ‘Vincent must die’Directed by Stéphan Castang, the film was awarded twice: the Citizen Kane award for best actor (Karim Leklou) and for new director. José Luis Guarner Critics Award for best feature film in the official section, ‘Universal theory’Timm Kröger’s beautifully shot quantum ‘thriller’. And the Big Audience Award went to live ‘Robot dreams’By Pablo Berger.
There are already titles like this in parallel sections: ‘moon garden’ (Noves Visions’ best feature film), ‘Tony, Shelly and the Magic Lantern’ (Best Animated Film), ‘Last stop in Yuma County’ (best Òrbita film) or ‘Kim’s Video’ (best Sitges Documenta film).