Barcelona, 20 de March de 2023
Isabel Coixet: “The Brain Film Fest is a very necessary festival, more and more so”
Denali, by Alberto Ortega, has won the first prize of the Solé Tura Award for highlighting the lights and shadows of artificial intelligence
Today the 6th edition of the Brain Film Fest, a film festival about the brain, held the Solé Tura Awards and the Special Award gala, which recognized the director Isabel Coixet. With an extensive career, Coixet has treated the issue of trauma and post-trauma in a precise, delicate and respectful way in films such as Things I Never Told You, My Life Without Me, the documentary Journey to the Heart of Torture or The Secret Life of Words, and more recently in the documentary The Yellow Ceiling and the miniseries Cuidarnos entre nosotros nos hace humanos.
The director, who is in the middle of filming her new film, has not been able to personally pick up the Special Award – the filmmaker Paula Palacios has done it on her behalf – but she has connected live online. Palacios referred to Coixet stating that “she has paved the way, she is brave, she has given a voice to those who needed it and she has dealt with issues that are worth defending, always focusing on what is important and being consistent.” Isabel Coixet thanked the award and added: “I think this is a very necessary festival, more and more, for its selection of films and conferences”.
The actress Juliette Binoche surprised Coixet with a video in which she dedicated these words to her: “Your brain, head and heart are aligned and that as an artist is the most important thing. When they are separated, it is problematic.”
The Brain Film Fest has announced during the closing ceremony that next year the competition will also be extended to feature films.
List of Winners XIII Solé Tura Awards
The jury for this sixth edition, formed by Judith Colell, film director; Brays Efe, actor; José Luis Trejo, neuroscientist, and Elianne Ros, director of the Media Relations Area of La Caixa Foundation, have decided to award the following prizes:
First Prize
DENALI, by ALBERTO ORTEGA
For highlighting the lights and shadows that accompany Artificial Intelligence (AI) and alerting us of the dark component that comes with it; and for the presentation of a current issue and its contrast with respect to the emotional needs of human beings.
Second Prize
DISOÑJAL, by MADELEINE GUILLO-LEAD
For the interpretive quality of the protagonist, for the meticulous recreation of the losses that occur after a stroke, and for the parallelism that it exposes on how cognitive loss can alter one’s own personal identity.
Third Prize
PENSADERO, by MATIAS GUINARDO
For its narrative loaded with an excellent use of voice-over to introduce the theme of rumination and anxiety, for its humorous way of addressing these disorders from the romantic genre and for presenting an ironic and respectful perspective of them.
The Audience Award has gone to L’Alfons ja no viu aquí, by Dani Planas Labad and Alejandro Fabbri.
The winner of the Microcortos contest, decided by popular vote and online through the festival website, has been the short film Sonder, directed by Ane Bretón Olaskoaga, a piece about acceptance and self-love.
The Brain Film Fest is promoted by the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and co-organized with Minimal Films, with the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology-Ministry of Science and Innovation.