25th edition of the Oporto International Film Festival – Fantasporto has closed its doors on Saturday, again with more than 100,000 spectators.

FANTASPORTO 2005 AWARDS
VINCENZO NATALI DOES IT AGAIN!


OFFICIAL SECTION FANTASY CINEMA
The Canadian director Vincenzo Natali does it again! After “Cube” and “Cypher” he wins the Fantasporto 2005 Grand Prix Best Film Award of the Official Fantasy Section, with the movie “Nothing”.
The Best Film Award of the Director’s Week was the South-Korean action/thriller movie “Old Boy”, by Chan-Wook Park. In the Orient Express Competitive Section the winner was “My Mother the Mermaid” by Park Heung-shik, a dramatic comedy and a tribute to all the mothers in the world.

Vincenzo Natali is one of the most original and successful directors of modern fantasy. After “Cube” (Best Film Award at Fantasporto 1999) which already had a sequel, and “Cypher” which won a Gold Raven and also the Special Prize of the Jury in Fantasporto 2003, we enter a surreal world in a comedy like no other. “Nothing” won the Grand Prix Best Film Award of the Official Fantasy Section of Fantasporto 2005. Another winner of this section is “Bubba Ho-Tep” by Don “Phantasm” Coscareli. The film won the Special Jury Award and Bruce Campbell, the award for Best Actor for his brilliant role as an elderly Elvis Presley.
The North-American actress Karen Black received the Best Actress Award in the movie “Firecracker” by Steve Balderson. “Firecracker” is a dark tale. Based on true events and shot in the actual town of Wamego, Kansas, and it proves that truth is often stranger than fiction.
The French movie “Les Revenants” was also granted an award. The director Robin Campillo was recognized by his work behind the camera in a movie that was inspired in the 1950’s science fiction movies. The film was screened in the Official Selection of the Venice Festival. “Les Revenants” also won the Méliès D’Argent for European fantasy feature films.
The short movie “Le Dernière Minute” by Nicolas Salis was chosen as the Best Fantasy Short Movie of Fantasporto 2005 and also won the Méliès D’Argent for shorts.
The winner of the Best Screenplay of the Official Fantasy Section was the film “Saw” by James Wan and Leigh Whannell.

DIRECTORS WEEK AWARD
The fifteenth Director’s Week was dominated by two films: “Old Boy” )South Korea) and “Sideways” (USA).
After the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival 2004, the South-Korean “Old Boy” by Chan-Wook Park wins the Best Film Award and Screenplay Award of the Director’s Week. A creeping ride into a men´s life burning desire to get even, in an outstanding film. The story looks simple: an alchoolic is kidnapped, and locked up in a hotel room, with only a TV set for company. His wife is killed and he is the only suspect. In vain, he tries to escape.
“Sideways” by Alexander Payne won the Special Jury Award and the Best Actor Award (for Paul Giamatti). Recently, “Sideways” was also primed at the Oscars ceremony.
The Best Director in the opinion of the jury was Japanese Naoto Kamazawa, in the “Birthday” episode, of “Tokyo Noir”. “Birthday”, is about Mari a thirtysomething woman living alone and sexually frustrated. She hides a secret: her father left home when she was seven, in her birthday, now the saddest day of the year. Then she meets a hair dresser, who turns her from an ugly duckling into a beautiful and seductive woman.

Other Prizes
ORIENT EXPRESS AWARD
The Orient Express Competitive Section was won by “My Mother the Mermaid”, by Heung-shik Park, a dramatic comedy with some supernatural elements, which is an ode to every mother. A post-office girl, twenty year old Kim, has a dream - to travel to New Zealand. The young woman is sick of her parents, and when she is about to go chase her dream, her father disapears, leaving no trace. Kim decides to go look for him, in his homeland. Once she arrives, she mysteriously meets someone she never expected: her mother, 30 years younger.
The Orient Express Jury gave the Special Jury Award to “Vital” by Shynia Tsukamoto. From the awarded director of “Tetsuo” trilogy and “Snake of June”, the fantastic voyage of a man to the depths of his memory lost, through the tattooed body of a woman. During the dissection of the corpse the past emerges.

FANTASPORTO’2005 AWARDS

OFFICIAL FANTASY SECTION

Best Film Award : NOTHING (VINCENZO NATALI) CANADÁ/CANADA
Special Prize of the Jury: BUBBA HO-TEP (DON COSCARELLI) EUA/USA
Best Direction: ROBIN CAMPILLO (LES REVENANTS) FRANÇA/FRANCE
Best Actor: BRUCE CAMPBELL (BUBBA HO-TEP) EUA/USA
Best Actress: KAREN BLACK (FIRECRACKER) EUA/USA
Best Screenplay: SAW (JAMES WAN) EUA/USA
Best Visual Effects: NATURAL CITY (BYUNG-CHUN MIN) COREIA DO SUL/SOUTH KOREA
Best Fantasy Short: LE DERNIÈRE MINUTE (NICOLAS SALIS) FRANÇA/FRANCE

DIRECTORS WEEK

Best Film Award Directors Week: OLD BOY (CHAN-WOOK PARK) COREIA DO SUL/SOUTH KOREA
Special Prize of the Juri: SIDEWAYS (ALEXANDER PAYNE) EUA/USA
Best Director: NAOTO KAMAZAWA,(episódio|episode BIRTHDAY, do filme |from TOKYO NOIR) JAPÃO/JAPAN
Best Actor: PAUL GIAMATTI (SIDEWAYS) EUA/USA
Best Actress: KATE ELLIOT (FRACTURE) NOVA ZELÂNDIA/NEW ZEALAND
Best Screenplay: OLD BOY (HWANG JO-YUN, LIM JUN-HYEONG, PARK CHANWOOK) COREIA DO SUL/SOUTH KOREA

ORIENT EXPRESS COMPETITIVE SECTION

BEST FILM AWARD ORIENT EXPRESS OFFICIAL SECTION: MY MOTHER THE MERMAID (HEUNG-SHIK PARK) COREIA DO SUL/SOUTH KOREA
SPECIAL AWARD OF THE JURY: VITAL (SHYNIA TSUKAMOTO) JAPÃO/JAPAN

MÉLIÈS AWARDS

Méliès D’Argent: LES REVENANTS (ROBIN CAMPILLO) FRANÇA/FRANCE
Méliès D’Argent Short Film: LE DERNIÈRE MINUTE (NICOLAS SALIS) FRANÇA/FRANCE

TMN Award for Best Portuguese Short: ABRAÇO AO VENTO (JOSÉ MIGUEL RIBEIRO) PORTUGAL/PORTUGAL

HOMAGE: CINEMA ALEMÃO (GERMAN CINEMA)

The Critics Jury of Fantasporto ‘2005 has decided to grant its Award to: VINZENT (AYASSI) ALEMANHA

The Audience Award went to: CONSTANTINE (FRANCIS LAWRENCE) EUA/USA

Career Awards

KAREN BLACK (ACTRIZ) EUA/USA
GUILLERMO DEL TORO (REALIZADOR) MÉXICO/MEXICO
DOUG BRADLEY (ACTOR) REINO UNIDO/GREAT BRITAIN
TINO NAVARRO (PRODUTOR) PORTUGAL
CLAUDIO SIMONETTI (COMPOSITOR) ITALIA/ITALY
BRYAN YUZNA (REALIZADOR) EUA/USA
VINCENZO NATALI (REALIZADOR) CANADÁ/CANADA
JOHN HURT (ACTOR) REINO UNIDO/GREAT BRITAIN
DARIO ARGENTO (REALIZADOR) ITALIA/ITALY
GNR (ROCK BAND) PORTUGAL

For 16 days, the festival had nearly 200 screenings, in 4 theatres in Oporto, second largest town. Over 150 features were presented along with 50 shorts films. The final audience sold a record for a cultural event of 112,500 spectators (for an average of 100,000 in the the latest editions).
The screenings of the Official sections have digital translation in Portuguese with a team of five professional translators and six others inserting the subtiles during the screenings. About 1,000 guests, both foreign (300) and nationals, complete the picture, with 350 accredited media representatives and nearly 150 people guaranteeing the organization of the event. Five star hotels are used in Fantasporto.