Les Rencontres Cinematografiques de Cerbère-Portbou, a film festival that this year marks its tenth edition, announced its winners on Sunday 5th October. The Chilean filmmaker Ignacio Agüero, one of the two guest filmmakers at the 2014 Punto de Vista International Seminar, has won two awards for his film El otro día: a special mention and an artist-in-residence position at the Hotel Bellvedere Le Rayon Vert de Cerbère, the venue for Les Rencontres, which the director must complete before the next edition of the festival, in October 2015. Greta Alfaro, a director from Navarre, who took part in the Punto de Vista Festival in 2013 as participant in the Proyecto X Films showcase, received another special mention for her short film In Ictu Oculi. Other awards were presented to Être vivant, by Emmanuel Gras, nominated by the Cinemaginaire festival (who also won an artist-in-residence prize) and Iranien, by Mehran Tamadon, nominated by Cinema du Réel.

The 2nd Punto de Vista Seminar has come to a close, and the 11 screenings open to the public have been a huge success in terms of the number of attendees. A remarkable fact for the Punto de Vista Festival, which is coming back next year in February. As many as 1,840 moviegoers attended the sessions at the Navarra Film Library and the Saide Carlos III movie theatre complex, that is, an average audience of 150 at the former and of 248 at the latter. The morning sessions, focusing on the films by Ignacio Agüero and Pema Tseden, were attended by the 128 people who had registered for them.

Many people have been asking us those days during the seminar how did Simon Ellis record the wonderful header he made for us. And how did he get such a fantastic sound. We’ve asked him and this is what he told us:

Tickets are now on sale for all of the Punto de Vista Seminar screenings. Those who are not registered in the seminar but wish to attend the afternoon sessions may purchase tickets via the Punto de Vista website and the Navarra Film Library or the Saide Cinema, depending on the screening venue.

The Punto de Vista Seminar 2014 (Pamplona, 19th – 22nd February) is going to close with a special event which will be held on Saturday 22nd February at 8 pm at the SAIDE Carlos III Cinema in the centre of Pamplona. It is an event that is aimed not only at film-goers, but also at literature and art enthusiasts in general, as it will be presented by the novelist, poet and translator Menchu Gutiérrez, author of the brilliant essay, Decir la Nieve (Saying Snow).