• The Official Feature Films Jury has given the Silver Lady Harimaguada to the Turkish film One of Those Days When Hemme Dies, by Murat Fıratoğlu, and the Best Performance Award to Georges Khabbaz, lead actor in Yunan, by Ameer Fakher Eldin
• The Audience Award, granted by the Popular Jury, has gone to Two Women, by Chloé Robichaud
• The rest of the awards announced this Saturday morning have been given to the short film Audio y el Caimán and the piece Archipelago of Earthen Bones – To Bunya, winners of the Best Short Film and Bande à Part awards, respectively
• Finally, the CIMA Award has been granted to Seeds
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Saturday, May 3, 2025.- The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival has announced its list of winners this Saturday morning, May 3. Seeds, by American filmmaker Brittany Shyne, has won the 2025 Golden Lady Harimaguada.
The rest of the Festival awards include: the Silver Lady Harimaguada, to the Turkish film One of Those Days When Hemme Dies; the Best Performance Award to Yunan’s lead actor, Georges Khabbaz; the Best Short Film Award, to Audio y el Caimán (Audio & the Alligator); the Bande à Part Award, to Archipelago of Earthen Bones – To Bunya, and the Audience and Cima Awards, that have gone to Two Women and Seeds, respectively.
When granting the Golden Lady Harimaguada, the Official Feature Films Jury have reached the same decision that, a few months ago, was announced at Sundance, where Seeds won the Best Documentary Award. This singular portrayal of African-American farmers, their way of life and perspectives on land ownership received unanimous approval from all members of the jury.
“It is a visually stunning and deeply moving film that pays tribute to generations of black farmers in the American South. With its poetic black and white cinematography and powerful sense of place, the movie tells a story of resilience, heritage and quiet resistance in our days. A formally rigorous and bold movie where the filmmaker’s approach offers both tenderness and strength, making this documentary a lasting piece of cinema,” they claimed at the reading of the list of winners.
The Official Feature Films Jury was composed by Portuguese filmmaker Margarida Cardoso, author of several interesting works, including Banzo, which was screened as part of this edition’s Panorama section; Manuel Arias Maldonado, who is a professor of Political Science at the University of Malaga, writer, and director of the Political Thought Club at La Malagueta Cultural Center; and film critic and journalist Jihane Bougrine, who is also a member of the selection committee at the Marrakech International Film Festival.
The Silver Lady Harimaguada went to the last film screened at the Festival as part of its Official Section: One of Those Days When Hemme Dies, by Turkish Murat Fıratoğlu. “A quiet thriller that manages to portray the frustration that afflicts workers in poor regions of the world with relentless pace, using a cinematic approach in which the main character’s physical and inner trajectory is portrayed in an immersive way that allows the viewer to share his experience of resistance in this brilliant debut from Murat Fıratoğlu,” they explained.
And Ameer Fakher Eldin’s piece was recognized through the Best Performance Award granted to Georges Khabbaz “for his main role in Yunan, a film in which he delivers a restrained but brilliant performance that encapsulates the film’s meaning with serene force and a remarkable screen presence.”
As members of the Official Short Films Jury, film critic and cinema consultant Tara Judah, artistic director and programmer of the Italian Concorto Film Festival Simone Bardoni, and filmmaker and visual artist Hu Wei decided to give the Best Short Film Award to Audio y el Caimán, by Andrés I. Estrada, “for its hybrid approach, between documentary and fiction, and for its realistic vision of family life, where stories -true or false- become symbolic metaphors for a way of life and the narratives made.”
The Bande à Part Award was also revealed this morning. In this case it was granted by programmer, film critic and teacher Cátia Rodrigues, and Pablo Marín, a filmmaker, researcher and curator who also taught a 16mm workshop to a large group of young people during the Festival. They both decided to give it to Archipelago of Earthen Bones – To Bunya, by Malena Szlam.
The Audience Award, which reflects the opinion of the general and film buff public, was given, after careful deliberation by the members of the Popular Jury, to Chloé Robichaud’s Two Women. “The award goes to a film that invites us to think through an intimate, brave and deeply humane story,” they argued. “Its director, through Violette and Florence, shows us how pleasure, freedom and tenderness can be forms of resistance. It’s the sort of cinema that moves you with subtleness and defiance.” They concluded by adding that “we also celebrate its extremely high cinematographic quality. Each element contributes to a powerful and coherent aesthetic experience.”
And finally, the CIMA Award granted by three members of the Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media, which recognizes the work of women in all areas of filmmaking and film production, has gone to Brittany Shyne, “a surprising filmmaker who has had enough patience and commitment to make a moving, honest and tender film without renouncing to the complexities of the world she wants to tells us about.” They explained that they decided to award Seeds “for showing us a portrayal removed from the African-American cultural stereotype. Because it depicts the reality of several families of farmers in the United States throughout a decade. Because from the very beginning the filmmaker has involved us in that community from a revealing and intimate perspective. Because she’s been able to talk with her characters without conditioning them while conveying an intergenerational connection. For its class discourse and how it has shown in a striking way current institutional racism.”
Filmmakers Alba González de Molina and Cris Noda, as well as executive producer and development executive María Beltrán, made up this jury that assesses the works selected in the Official Section.
The 2025 list of winners also includes the Panorama Spain, Canarias Cinema and MECAS Awards, which have been revealed over the course of the Festival as soon as they have been decided by their respective juries. Thus, A nuestros amigos (To Our Friends) and De interés insular (Of Island Interest) won the Richard Leacock Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film, respectively, in the Canarias Cinema competition; Llueve sobre Babel (Rains Over Babel) and El cuento de una noche de verano (A Midsummer’s Night Tale) obtained the Panorama Spain Award and a Special Jury Mention; while the winning MECAS projects were Manantial and Me llamo Eric Satie, como todo el mundo (Almost-Finished Film and Films-To-Be-Made Awards, respectively).
The audience of the 24th Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival will have one last chance to watch this edition’s winners. Screening tomorrow, Sunday, May 4, the Golden and Silver Lady Harimaguadas, as well as the different award-winning short films: De interés insular, El cuento de una noche de Verano, Archipelago of Earthen Bones – To Bunya and Audio y el Caimán, at noon; One of Those Days When Hemme Dies (2025 Silver Lady Harimaguada), at 6 p.m., and Seeds (2025 Golden Lady Harimaguada), at 8 p.m., all of them at Cine Yelmo Las Arenas Screen 8.
LIST OF WINNERS
OFFICIAL SECTION
Golden Lady Harimaguada
Seeds (Brittany Shyne, USA, 123 min.)
Silver Lady Harimaguada
One of Those Days when Hemme Dies (Murat Fıratoğlu, Turkey, 2024, 83 min.)
Best Performance Award
Georges Khabbaz for his leading role in Yunan (Ameer Fakher Eldin, Germany, Canada, Italy, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, 2025, 124 min.)
Best Short Film Award
Audio y el Caimán | Audio & the Alligator (Andrés I. Estrada, Canada, Venezuela, 2024, 16 min.)
Audience Award
Deux femmes en or | Two Women (Chloé Robichaud, Canada, 2025, 100 min.)
CIMA Award
Seeds (Brittany Shyne, USA, 123 min.)
BANDE À PART
Archipelago of Earthen Bones – To Bunya (Malena Szlam, Australia, Canada, Chile, 2024, 20 min.)
PANORAMA SPAIN
Panorama Spain Award
Llueve sobre Babel | Rains Over Babel (Gala del Sol, Colombia, Spain, USA, 2025, 113 min.)
Special Jury Mention
El cuento de una noche de verano | A Midsummer Night’s Tale (María Herrera, Spain, 2024, 22 min.)
CANARIAS CINEMA
Richard Leacock for Best Feature Film
A nuestros amigos | To Our Friends (Adrián Orr, Spain, Portugal, 2024, 90 min.)
Richard Leacock for Best Short Film
De interés insular | Of Island Interest (Marta Torrecilla, España, 2024, 4 min.)
Digital 104 Distribution Award
Inmaculada | Immaculate (Amos Milbor, Spain, 2025, 14 min.)
MARKET OF ALMOST-FINISHED FILMS (MECAS)
Almost-Finished Films Award: Manantial, by Manuel Muñoz Rivas
Films-To-Be-Made Award: Me llamo Erik Satie, como todo el mundo, by Joana Carro
MECAS Island Award: El mapa para tocarte, by Mercedes Afonso
Music Library &SFX Award: Ningún lugar a dónde ir, by Santiago Gershanik
Very Good Script Award: Estoque, by Andrea Segarra Bueno
Blackout Films Award for DCP creation: Delivery Girl, by Jorge Shinno
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