The 19th Méliès d’Or Ceremony took place in Trieste’s Festival Scienceplusfiction on November 6th 2015.

The European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation (EFFFF) is pleased to announce the winners of the 19th Méliès d’Or competition for European fantastic film.

The Méliès d’Or (Gold Méliès Award) for feature film was awarded to Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz‘s “Goodnight Mommy“/Ich seh Ich seh (Austria).

“Goodnight Mommy” (Ich seh, Ich seh) is a 2014 Austrian fantastic film written and directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. It was selected as the Austrian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. Cast : Susanne Wuest as The Mother, Elias Schwarz as Elias, Lukas Schwarz as Lukas.

The Méliès d’or for short film went to Frédéric Doazan “Supervenus” (France).

The Méliès jury was composed of Claudio Simonetti (president), Iris Martin-Peralta and Francisco Villa-Lobos.

The 8 nominees for Méliès d’or were:

“Goodnight Mommy” (Ich seh ich seh) by Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala /Austria, Méliès d’argent winner at Sitges – Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya, 2014
“Index Zero” by Lorenzo Sportiello / ItalyMéliès d’argent winner at Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, 2014
“Another Frontier” (L’altra frontera) by André Cruz Shiraiwa /Spain, Méliès d’argent winner at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, 2015
“Liza, the Fox-Fairy” (Liza, a rokatünder)by Károly Ujj Mészáros /Hungary, Méliès d’argent winner at the Imagine Film Festival, 2015
“Men and Chicken” (Maend of Hons)by Anders Thomas Jensen /Germany, Denmark, Méliès d’argent winner at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, 2015
“The Hallow” by Corin Hardy /United Kingdom, Ireland, Méliès d’argent winner at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival, 2015
“Nina Forever” by Blaine Brothers (Ben and Chris) /United Kingdom, Méliès d’argent winner at the Lund Fantastik Film Festival, 2015
“The Brand New Testament” (Le tout nouveau testament) by Jaco Van Dormael / Belgium, France, Luxembourg Méliès d’argent winner at Sitges – Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya, 2015

The Méliès d’Or ceremony took place on 6 November in Trieste, and was hosted by the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival. It marked the culmination of a unique cycle of ongoing competitions held by 16 members of the EFFFF in 11 European countries, during 2014/15.

The European Fantastic Films Festivals Federation annually awards a Méliès d’Or prize for the best European fantastic feature film and short film. An award which is renowned in Europe and abroad, the Méliès generates visibility for films, its producers and directors. It’s an award that stands for quality, creativity, and imagination.

“The Méliès d’Or Award stands for quality, creativity and imagination!”

The Méliès Awards, named after Georges Méliès, the great French pioneer of fantastic films and special effects, were created in 1995. The Méliès feature film cycle lasts about one year and is open to festivals with affiliated membership (one per country). Each festival holds a competition for recently produced European genre films and its jury awards the winner a Méliès d’Argent. The Argent winner from each festival then go on to compete for the Méliès d’Or; the competition and awards ceremony are currently held at the last festival on the cycle calendar.

The Méliès cycle for short films works in the same way, except that it is optional and open to both affiliated and adherent members. Currently nearly all of the festivals hold the short film competition.

“The first Méliès d’Or was awarded in 1996!”

The first Méliès d’Or ceremony was held by the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in 1996 and the prize was given to Alex de la Iglesia for “The Day of the Beast” (El Día de la Bestia).

Other winners since that landmark date have included Michael Winterbottom for “Code 46” in 2004, Thomas Alfredson for “Let the Right One In” (Låt den Rätte Komma In), in 2008, Rodrigo Cortes for “Buried” in 2011 and Kristina Buozyte for “Vanishing Waves” (Aurora) in 2012.