Mike Leigh’s “Tender Loving Care” won the Golden Shell for best film at the 74th San Sebastian International Film Festival, which closed on September 26. The award, decided by a jury led by American filmmaker Ira Sachs, capped a strong showing for the veteran British director, who also took the prize for best screenplay.
Leigh, 83, did not attend the closing ceremony in the Spanish coastal city. Actors Alice Bailey Johnson and Paul Jesson accepted the Golden Shell on behalf of the film, one of several English-language titles in this year’s main competition. The win continues a long run of festival recognition for Leigh, whose credits include “Secrets and Lies,” “Vera Drake” and “Mr. Turner.”
Kate O’Flynn shared the Silver Shell for best leading performance for her work in “Tender Loving Care,” splitting the honor with Asta Kamma August of the film “Growth of the Soil.” The best director prize went to Amanda Kernell for “Brace Your Heart,” and Javier Camara won best supporting performance for “5 More Minutes.” “Growth of the Soil” also collected the cinematography award for Oskar Dahlsbakken, and the special jury prize went to the film “Border.”
The festival handed its Donostia Award, given for career achievement, to director Werner Herzog and actress Naomi Watts during the event. The audience award for the festival’s most popular title went to “La bola negra,” which had already drawn attention on the international festival circuit earlier in the fall, while “NAZA” took the audience prize for best European film. San Sebastian remains one of the most prominent stops on the European autumn calendar.
For Leigh, the win extends a career built largely outside the studio system, with films developed through improvisation and long rehearsal rather than conventional scripts. San Sebastian, which ran from September 18 to 26, has increasingly served as a launch point for awards-season contenders, and the recognition for “Tender Loving Care” is likely to raise the film’s profile ahead of a wider release. Held each year in the Basque coastal city, San Sebastian is accredited as one of Europe’s competitive A-list festivals, and its 74th edition drew filmmakers and distributors from across the continent and beyond.
