EMIFF 2018
2018 Winners
EVOLUTION ICON AWARD: MELISSA LEO
Melissa Leo started her career on several television shows and films in the 1980s. In 2009, she collected her first Oscar nomination for “Frozen River,” yet, it took another two years and an actual Oscar win ― for playing the brash matriarch of a boxing clan in “The Fighter” ― for Leo to develop a reputation to lead her. When she couldn’t land the magazine covers and that are standard for Oscar hopefuls, Leo (a true independent spirit) purchased her own glamorous ads, stamped the word “Consider” on them, and cemented her renown as an iconoclast. Leo has built a career playing a range of eclectic and fascinating women, immersing into her characters completely and gifting the audience truthful and charged performances every single time. The EVOLUTION ICON AWARD celebrates her trailblazing achievement as an actress and her unshakable independent spirit in today's international Film Industry.
EVOLUTION VISION AWARD: MADS MIKKELSEN
Mads Mikkelsen started his career in independent film and the Danish Dogma movement including films by Susanne Bier. He is one of the few European actors who went after a career in Hollywood and succeeded. His strong and athletic physique accompanied by his sensitive and soft nature give him an incredibly special quality, which he let’s us enjoy in every single one of his twisted, unique and wonderfully dark characters. In 2011 Mads won the award for European Achievement in World Cinema at the European Film Awards, In 2012 he won Best actor as the Cannes Film Festival followed by numerous awards for his unbelievable performance in Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt, as a school teacher wrongly cast out by his community. At EMIFF we award him the 2018 Evolution Vision Award, celebrating him as visionary actor who inspires audiences, breaks boundaries and bridges cultures.
EVOLUTIONARY AWARD: MARISA PAREDES
Marisa Paredes, the Almodóvar girl who captivated a generation, will receive the Evolution Honorary Award 2018.
In addition to the Goya de Honor 2018, Marisa Paredes has received many other recognitions from the Union of Actors, the Actors' Union, Silver Frame, Ondas, Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts (in 2008), Silver Biznaga Malaga film festival and even the ACE (New York) award. Her extensive and prolific career expands over 5 decades and remains with absolute vigor betting on numerous works for national and international film projects defined by risk and prestige. She infuses each character with an understated tension and focus, which captivates the audience every time.
EVOLUTIONARY AWARD - TOBIAS LINDHOLM
Tobias Lindholm is a Danish screenwriter and film director best known for gritty moral dramas. Two of his films have been Nominated in the BEST FOREIGN FILM Category at the Oscars; A War and THE HUNT a collaboration with acclaimed Danish director Thomas Vinterberg. The Evolutionary Award honors the evolution of a culturally relevant artist on the international film scene. It is both an acknowledgment and promise of the growth of the artist as a tastemaker, influencer, and leader in today’s diverse film industry.
BEST FEATURE FILM – BACK FOR GOOD, by Mia Spengler (GERMANY)
BEST ACTRESS – Sara Forestier, “M” (FRANCE)
BEST ACTOR – Redouanne Harjane, “M” (FRANCE)
BEST FEATURE DOC- ‘El Silencio de otros’, Robert Bahar & Almudena Carracedo (SPAIN)
SPECIAL MENTION FEAYURE DOC: ‘All the Women I Know’ (‘Todas las mujeres que conozco’), Xiana do Teixeiro, (SPAIN)
EVOLUTIONARY ISLAND AWARD - Line Hadsbjerg, ‘Out of Plastic'(SPAIN, MIB)
BEST SHORT DOC MIB - ‘The Most Beautiful Hell I Know’ by Cesc Mulet & Pep Bonet (SPAIN, MIB)
BEST SHORT FILM MIB - ‘Background’, Toni Bestard (SPAIN, MIB)
BEST SHORT FILM - ‘Shadow Animals’, Jerry Carlsson (SWEDEN)
SPECIAL MENTION SHORT FILM: ‘Facing Mecca’ by de Joel Jent (SWITZERLAND)
BEST SHORT DOC- ‘Globalizing Beauty’, Sonja Keßler (GERMANY
SPECIAL MENTION SHORT DOC: ‘Travelogue Tel Aviv’, de Samuel Patthey (SWITZERLAND)
BEST MUSIC VIDEO - ‘Stereo’, by Jesper Skoubølling, (SWEDEN)
SPECIAL MENTION MUSIC VIDEO - ‘Be Brave’ by Dominic Mercurio (USA)
BEST SHORT EXPERIMENTAL FILM - ‘Hoissuru’ by Armand Rovira (SPAIN, MIB)
BEST VIRTUAL REALITY SHORT FILM - ‘God is One’ by Michael Wall (SWEDEN)
BEST SCREENPLAY - ‘The Fledgling’, Tara Lynn Orr (USA)