Susan Sarandon wins Grand Honorary Award at Sitges Film Fest

Set in a month dedicated to all things creepy, the Sitges Film Festival continued in full force this weekend, bringing an element of the fantastical, the frightening, and the bizarre to the southern Catalan seaside town. This included an award to Rocky Horror Picture Show star Susan Sarandon, a zombie walk led by Freddie Kruger’s Robert Englund, and showings of various yet-to-be-released movies.

Don’t dream it, be it

Susan Sarandon, known from cult films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Thelma and Louise, was presented with the Grand Honorary Award at the film festival. After being given the award by director of the event Àngel Sala, Sarandon thanked the festival for inviting her and the audience for coming.

She had only one thing to say, she added: “Don’t dream it, be it,” the name of a song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sarandon then regaled the crowd with a sung rendition of the song ‘Over at the Frankenstein Place’ from the same musical film, indeed, a showing of the cult classic soon followed. While it may not have been the fully immersive experience that Rocky Horror Picture Show often involves, it did become “a party,” as festival director Àngel Sala said.

Ordinary women doing extraordinary things

Speaking to the press, she also shared anecdotes from the filming of the movie, during which the actress caught pneumonia due to the extremely cold temperatures and low budget production. Thanks to her career as a character actor, she said, she has done “many different kinds of films” and has a “very diverse” audience. Sarandon also lauded the roles that are currently being written for “powerful women who are not 22” in television, accrediting it being “more risky and more edgy” to the medium enjoying more freedom than film, which she qualifies as “a little bit behind.”

“The bottom line is, I love love stories,” explained Susan Sarandon. The actress said that she sees every movie she’s made “as the bravery of one person opening themselves up to be vulnerable to another,” be it with a child, a woman, or a man. “This idea that you can be a protagonist in your own life is very important,” Sarandon continued, “so ordinary women doing extraordinary things and opening their hearts are basically what I’m drawn to.”