'Buñuel in the labyrinth of the turtles' wins European Animated Feature Film 2019

'Buñuel in the labyrinth of the turtles', from Barcelona-born director Salvador Simó, won the European Animated Feature Film 2019 award yesterday.

The film explores the friendship between Luis Buñuel and Ramón Acín, focusing on the period when the artist won the lottery and decided to pay for Buñuel's documentary 'Las Hurdes' (1933). Buñuel described one of the poorest and remotest regions in Spain, and this affected him deeply.  

Simó's film combines animation with real footage from Buñuel's early thirties work. 'Buñuel in the labyrinth of the turtles' is based on the graphic novel by Fermín Solís.

"For us this was a beautiful story to tell, and this film was a wonderful gift to all of us," said Salvador Simó after receiving the prize in Berlin.

Meanwhile, Antonio Banderas won the European Actor 2019 award for 'Pain and glory', by Pedro Almodóvar. "Pedro Almodóvar is a miracle that happened to me. Thank you very much to everybody," said the actor, who couldn't attend the ceremony in person.

'The favourite', by Yorgos Lanthimos, was chosen as the Best European Film and Best Comedy. The film also got the awards for Best Director, Best Actress for Olivia Colman, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Hair & Makeup.

Catalan 'Suc de Síndria', a short-film by Barcelona-born Irene Moray (1992) was also nominated. Although it didn't win the award, the jury said the short-film is "really inspiring."