French-Senegalese writer-director Alain Gomis' Dao has won the Golden Spike, the top prize at the 71st Valladolid International Film Week in Spain, known as Seminci.
Screen International reported the win as the festival wrapped over the weekend. Dao, which premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, blends drama and documentary around two intertwined ceremonies: a wedding in France and a funeral in Guinea-Bissau. The prize carries 70,000 euros that goes to the film's Spanish distributor, Flamingo Films, giving its local release a boost.
Seminci skipped its closing gala out of respect for the victims of last week's train crash in Spain, which killed at least 69 people. Co-directors Mariona Viader and Javier H. Estrada announced the winners at a press event instead.
Latin American filmmakers also take home prizes
Argentine director Lisandro Alonso won the best director award for Double Freedom, and the festival closed with Gael García Bernal's comedy Hombre al Agua, screened out of competition.
Marine Atlan's La Gradiva, which won the top prize at Cannes' Critics' Week, took the Silver Spike and the editing award. Alba Rohrwacher won best actress for Stéphane Brizé's A Good Little Soldier, and Swann Arlaud won best actor for A Man of His Time, which also earned the cinematography prize. Sandra Wollner's Everytime won best screenplay, and Markus Schleinzer's Rose, starring Sandra Hüller, took the audience award. Sompot Chidgasornpongse's 9 Temples to Heaven won the Meeting Point sidebar for first and second features.
The win keeps Dao in the conversation as the festival season rolls on. Gomis' film is next set for the Horizons section of the Marrakech International Film Festival, which runs Nov. 20-28, alongside other African titles including the Esiri brothers' Clarissa. For a Black filmmaker telling a story that spans France and West Africa, a top prize at one of Europe's long-running festivals is a meaningful signal for distribution and visibility beyond the festival circuit.
