Seven films supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme were awarded at the 64th edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival in Spain.
The Giant (Jätten) by Johannes Nyholm won the Special Jury Prize(ex-aequo with The Winter (El Invierno) by Emiliano Torres).
I, Daniel Blake by Ken Loach and My Life as a Courgette (Ma vie de Courgette) by Claude Barras received the San Sebastián European Capital of Culture 2016 Audience Award, while Oscuro animal by Felipe Guerrero was awarded the Spanish Cooperation Award.
Three other EU-funded films won awards in parallel competitions: The Odyssey (L’Odyssée) by Jérôme Salle, Nocturama by Bertrand Bonello and 150 milligrams (La Fille de Brest) by Emmanuelle Bercot. In total more than 20 films funded with over €2 million of EU funding were pre-selected for the competition in different sections (more details).
Vice-President Ansip, in charge of the Digital Single Market, and Commissioner Oettinger, responsible for the Digital Economy and Society, said: “Congratulations to all the winners, we are very proud that the EU supports, through its MEDIA programme, such a diverse and brilliant selection of films. We have recently modernised our European audiovisual and copyright rules to further support European creation in the digital era. We will continue our work to encourage the circulation of films across the EU and the fair remuneration of creators” (press release on the modernisation of EU copyright rules).
This year the MEDIA programme celebrates its 25thanniversary. Since its creation in 1991, the MEDIA programme has invested €2.4 billion in the European audiovisual industry. Each year, around 2000 European films, television series and other projects receive MEDIA funding that supports their development and distribution
