Sitges 2021 Méliès d'Or Awards: Prano Bailey-Bond's CENSOR Wins Best European Film

Sitges 2021 hosts the Méliès d’Or Awards gala celebration 

 

The feature film 'Censor' directed by Prano Bailey-Bond and Danny Gibbons’ short film 'Last Dance' took home the most important European film awards 

 

**French director Lucile Hadzihalilovic received the Méliès Career Award for her work in fantastic genre**

 

For the fourth consecutive year, the Sitges - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia hosted the Méliès d'Or awards ceremony at the Melià Sitges Auditori to reward the Best European Feature Film and Short Film. Prano Bailey-Bond's debut feature, Censor, picked up the award for Best Feature Film, while the winner in the short film category was Last Dance, directed by Danny Gibbons and Alex Scott. The 2021 Golden Méliès d'Or Jury (which also judged the Blood Window section) was made up of Manolo Vázquez, María Fernando Ampuero and Montse Majench. They also awarded two special mentions, one to the feature film The Feast (Gwledd) by Lee Haven Jones, and the other to T'es morte Hélène, the short film by Michiel Blanchart.

 

Filmmaker Lucile Hadzihalilovic received the Méliès Career Award from the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF). This French director graduated from the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques in Paris, where she began her career in film as an actress, screenwriter, director, and editor for both short and feature films. Her debut feature film arrived in 2004 with Innocence, one of the most suggestive genre films of the time. Evolution was her second work, in charge of closing the New Visions section at Sitges 2015, a mysterious drama with children that confirmed her as one of the most fascinating and personal filmmakers in European fantastic genre. Her latest work, Earwig, an award winner at the San Sebastian Film Festival, is participating in an Official Fantàstic special screening at Sitges 2021.

 

The Méliès d'Or and Méliès d'Argent awards are presented each year to the best European fantastic feature and short films. They are awards that acknowledge their high level of quality and creativity, while also generating a unique visibility for the films and their directors.

 

The awards are granted by the Méliès International Festivals Federation, a network of 25 film festivals in 19 different countries, with a worldwide audience of more than 800,000 visitors,  making it a vital economic and cultural force in the fantastic genre film scene.

 

Its mission is to promote European fantastic genre film productions in Europe and worldwide, improving their visibility and positioning among audiences and within the industry, while encouraging their distribution. The Federation works to fulfil this mission through its network of festivals in Europe, its supporting members in Asia, North and South America, as well as the Méliès Awards for excellence in European genre films.

 

The Méliès d'Or awards ceremony was held this Saturday, October 16th at 5:00 pm in the Meliá Sitges Auditori, just before the screening of Earwig, directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic.