The 26th edition of FESTROIA, the oldest and most prestigious film event in Portugal, concluded last weekend with the announcement of the Golden Dolphin Awards. This has been a rough period for cultural organizations in Portugal, with an already uncertain economy facing new challenges from what could be a long period of austerity. However, despite this, Festival Director Fernanda Silva continue the traditions begun by Festival founder Mario Ventura to create an event that reaches high marks in terms of artistic quality and convivial atmosphere. No wonder people who have been to the Festival once with their films continue to ask about coming back....such is the sunlight, warmth and good spirits of the events in Setubal, about 20 miles south of Lisbon.

The big winner in the Festival's main competition section was A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN by Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland. The film won a Best Film Golden Dolphin, as well as nods as Best Director, Best Script and Best Actor (Stellan Skarsgaard). The intense drama focuses on a man who must decide after serving a prison sentence for killing a man for sleeping with his wife, whether he should try and reconcile with his family, or take revenge on those who turned him in. The film had its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

This year's Festival continued its traditional competition sections for International Cinema, First Works and Man And His Environment, a critically important section that ranges from documentaries about ecology to strong dramas about globalization and international displacement. This year's focus country was Slovakia, and the Festival had a strong showing of emerging Slovakian talents.

For the traditional American Independents Competition, this year the Festival shifted focus. Rather than inviting a wide range of films from different sources, the Festival made the decision to honor a single company and highlight its output. American production and distribution company Elephant Eye Films, which had a major hit this past year with the intense urban drama PRECIOUS, was saluted, with a strong program of seven documentaries and fiction features, highlighting the company's eclectic interests and tastes.

Another important section added this year was Films of Resistance, which presented a mix of features and documenaries with the company theme of resistance to governmental and religious hierarchies. It was a diverse program of film styles from over 10 countries that highlighted a common bond of sacrifice and heroism under threat. The Festival also provided a showcase for recent Portugese cinema, bringing much needed attention to rising lights on the Portugese film scene.

Sandy Mandelberger, Awards Watch Editor

BEST FILM - GOLD DOLPHIN A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN, by Hans Petter Moland, Norway SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – SILVER DOLPHIN HEARTBEATS, by Saara Cantell, Finland BEST DIRECTOR – SILVER DOLPHIN Hans Petter Moland, for A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN, Norway  BEST ACTRESS – SILVER DOLPHIN Sylvia Hoeks, for THE STORM, The Netherlands/Belgium BEST ACTOR – SILVER DOLPHIN Stellen Skarsgard, for A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN, Norway BEST SCRIPT – SILVER DOLPHIN Kim Fupz Aakeson, for A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN, Norway BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – SILVER DOLPHIN Jakob Ihre, for A FAMILY, by Pernille Fischer Christensen, Denmark  

AUDIENCE AWARD SUBMARINO, by Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark/Sweden PRIZE MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT  LETTERS TO FATHER JACOB, by Klaus Haro, Finland PRIZE CITY HALL OF SETÚBAL – AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS ELEPHANT EYE FILMS (Producer/Distributor, USA). FIRST WORKS AWARD SEBBE, by Babak Najafi, Sweden/Finland FIPRESCI PRIZE ALL THAT I LOVE, by Jacek Borcuch, Poland SIGNIS PRIZE A FAMILY, by Pernille Fischer Christensen, Denmark CICAE PRIZE ALL THAT I LOVE, by Jacek Borcuch, Poland MÁRIO VENTURA AWARD   João Azevedo, Luis Lobo and Joana Cunha, (Screenwriters, ACT OF LIFE, Portugal) MÁRIO VENTURA AWARD  Zvonimir Juric (Screenwriter, YELLOW MOON, Croatia)