Austrian Oscar entry ‘The Devil’s Bath’ wins Sitges Film Festival
John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush and Kristine Froseth won best acting awards at the prominent Sitges Fantasy Film Festival in Spain, which concluded its 57th edition on October 13.
What completed the celebration with three awards was the Oscar entry for the Austrian best international feature film “The Devil’s Bath” by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. Based on historical facts, the Austrian-German co-production is described by Variety critic Jessica Kiang as a “story so relentlessly bleak you may want to look away; the craft of filmmaking is so fascinating that you can’t do that. The historical horror drama, which competed for the Berlinale Golden Bear in February, follows Agnes, a depressed newlywed, who instead of committing suicide, which is considered taboo by her Christian community, commits a crime that would lead to her execution. The practice of ‘suicide by proxy’ was said to be common in German-speaking Central Europe and Scandinavia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Soi Cheang took home the best director award for “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,” a martial arts crime drama based on the novel “City of Darkness.” It was selected for the Midnight Screening in Cannes, where it received critical acclaim.
Lithgow and Rush shared the Best Actor award for their roles in “The Rule of Jenny Penn,” in which they portray two men in a nursing home who engage in an increasingly violent rivalry.
Kristine Froseth took home the award for best actress for her role in the time-travel thriller “Desert Road,” Shannon Triplett’s directorial debut. Froseth plays Claire Devoir, a twenty-year-old photographer whose journey through the desert becomes increasingly sinister and disorientating.
The 57th Sitges Fantasy Film Festival took place from October 3 to 13.
Winners of the 57th edition:
Official competition
Feature film
“The Devil’s Bath”, Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Special jury prize
“Exhuma,” Jang Jae-hyun
Direction
Soi Cheang, “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled”
Actress
Kristine Froseth, “Desert Road”
Actor (equal)
John Lithgow, “Jenny Penn’s Rule”
Geoffrey Rush. “Jenny Penn’s Rule”
Scenario
Aaron Schimberg, ‘Another Man’
Special, visual or make-up effects
Equipment from Digital District, Machina Infinitum, “Else”
Music
‘Those Hexes’, Frewaka
Cinematography
Giovanni Ribisi, “Strange darling”
New visions
Film
‘A desert’, Joshua Erkman
Direction
Grazia Tricarico, “Body Odyssey”
Short film
“Say Wuff!”, Fabian Podeszwa
Mélies d’Argent
Fantastic genre film
‘Animale,’ Emma Benestan
European fantasy genre short film
“Meat doll,” Eros V
Animation
“Memoirs of a Snail,” Adam Elliot
Short animated film
‘Free the chickens’, Matúš Vizár
Orbita
Feature film
‘Zero’, Jean-Luc Herbulot
Blood window
Feature film
“Mi bestia”, Camila Beltrán
The critic’s jury
Film
“The Devil’s Bath”, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
Citizen Kane Award for Best New Director
‘Thibault Emin,’ Anders
Short film
“Chew,” Félix Dobaire
Brigadoon Awards
Brigadoon Paul Naschy Award for best short film
‘Céntrico’, Luso Martinez
SGAE Nova Autoria
Direction-production (ex-aequo)
‘Blava Terra’, Marine Auclair
‘Daru/n’, Benjamin Hindrichs
Scenario
Benjamin Hindrichs, “Daru/n”
Original music
Yuliya Protasova, “De-sastre”
Carnet Jove jury
Feature film
“The Devil’s Bath”, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
Sitges documentary film
‘Grand Theft Hamlet’, Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane
Audience Award
Feature film
“Strange Treasure,” JT Mollner
Panorama Fantastic People’s Choice Award
“Handsome guys,” Dong-Hyub Nam
Sitges Collection People’s Choice Award
‘Dead Talents Society’, John Hanchiang Hsu
Focus Asia People’s Choice Award
‘Dead Talents Society’, John Hanchiang Hsu
Midnight X-treme People’s Choice Award
“Die Alone,” Lowell Dean
