Sitges Bows to Dario Argento with the Presentation of its Golden Honorary Award
Basque filmmaker Paul Urkijo champions local mythology on the day of Irati's premiere
Four days have already flown by since Jaume Balagueró inaugurated the 55th Sitges Film Festival, and the events keep coming one after the other at a frenetic pace. This Sunday, among other highlights, is the presentation of the Golden Honorary Award to Dario Argento, the legendary Italian director who popularized the giallo genre in the 70's with emblematic films like Suspiria or Deep Red. The maestro will be presenting his latest film Dark Glasses at the Auditori, a thriller starring his daughter, Asia Argento, where he recovers the spirit of the genre he has worked so hard on over the last five decades.
Mid-morning, Dario Argento attended a press conference with media outlets, during which he had the opportunity both to recall his brilliant career and to comment on the current state of genre films: "Horror moviemaking is like the sea. It rises and falls. It's like a movement that changes depending on the spirit of the world. At the moment I'm interested in films coming from the East, from Korea, from Japan... I have always followed my own style, and I think that, in this way, I have also inspired other directors when it comes to making films". He also lamented the decline of fantastic genre in Italy over the last few years: "In Italy at the moment comedy is important. Everyone is making comedy films. Maybe it's because fantastic films are very expensive, whereas comedy is simple. Fantastic film in Italy is practically dead."
Before the Italian filmmaker's press conference, the Irati team, led by Paul Urkijo, also sat in front of the microphones in the press room, where he highlighted the important work of defending Basque mythology. The Basque filmmaker explains that "in the symbols of mythology we can find lessons for people's common life: respect for nature, respect for little ones, respect for everyone else, etc. I talk about how I see the world and what makes me sad to see disappear". Meanwhile, actor Eneko Sagardoy commented emotionally that "these are stories that have surrounded us by word of mouth since we were born, and suddenly, with Paul's ability to transfer all this to images, it becomes timeless". Irati, which could be seen mid-afternoon at the Auditori, recovers elements of Basque mythology to tell the story of Eneko, a young Christian who, together with the pagan Irati, has to recover the body of his father, buried together with Charlemagne's treasure in the 8th century after Christ. Before the screening, the SGAE presented the Julio Alejandro Award to the project Una mujer en el bosque, by Argentine filmmaker César Sodero.
In addition, this afternoon the Festival welcomed one of the highlights of this year's Anima't section: the national premiere of Unicorn Wars, the second feature length animated film by Alberto Vázquez, who already astounded Sitges' audiences with his imaginative Birdboy, the Forgotten Children. The film's crew visited the Festival's red carpet before the screening. This Spanish-French co-production is based on the creative premise of an army of bears that has to fight a demanding war against unicorns, making a commentary on the trauma of war. Another of the most eagerly awaited premieres took place in the same section: Poor Devil, the new animated series created for HBO Max by Joaquín Reyes, Miguel Esteban and Ernesto Sevilla.
The Auditori's lineup also includes The Five Devils, the French film that won over the critics at the last Cannes Film Festival and is competing in the competition's Official Selection. The sense of smell plays a special role in the film, which tells the story of a girl who is able to reproduce the aromas she likes and keep them in a glass jar. The screening was attended by the film's director, Léa Mysius, and co-screenwriter, Paul Guilhaume.
The day also included outstanding screenings in the parallel sections, like Tropique, a monstrous science fiction film directed by Edouard Salier; Good Madam, a terrifying film that sheds light on the racial inequalities that still affect a country like South Africa; and, from the Seven Chances section, The Heroic Trio, the first major hit from the always virtuous Johnnie To, starring the trio of actresses composed of Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui. In addition, today the Tramuntana theater welcomed the screening of UMMO: La España alienígena, a new documentary series produced by Movistar + about an extraterrestrial sighting in the 1960s. Following the screening, Laura Pousa and Javier Olivera, along with their team, held a Q&A session with the audience.
As for the industry agenda, mid-morning saw the presentation of one of this edition's official books, WomanInFan: Topography of Fantastic Genre Films Directed by Women, coordinated by Mònica Garcia i Massagué, a publication dedicated to retracing the important path of women's fantastic films. Continuing with the literary program, Dario Argento talked with Lucio Ferrante, from Letra Sudaca publishing house, about the books written by the maestro, and about his influences when developing his ideas and his prose. In addition, two long-awaited meetings took place. Kier-La Janisse, who visited the coastal town last year with her interesting documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, had the opportunity to present the ninth edition of her book House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films. Meanwhile, yesterday's award-winner, Edgar Wright, gave a talk during which he looked back over his more than twenty-year career in the company of his fans.
In other news, today's parallel activities include a wide range of events. At midday, a meeting between local fanzine publishers took place in the MEETING area, organized by the Festival in collaboration with the Comic Fair, while in the evening, the talk-meeting "Where is Paper Going?" was held, with the participation of independent publishers contributing their opinions on the gradual decline of the physical format. The DJ & Shorts section was also inaugurated, where a director will screen a short film and then spin a DJ session made up of soundtracks. The first session was led by Dani Rottenbrain and his mythical short The Attack of the Mutant Dick from Outer Space, followed by the Amazing Monsters session.