María Aparicio wins the 2026 GdA Director’s Award

The Giornate degli Autori jury – headed by the Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón, the Italian director and editor Sara Fgaier and Hania Mroué, director of Metropolis, the historic arthouse cinema in Beirut and a beacon for Lebanese film culture – decreed the winner of the GDA Director’s Award, with its cash prize of €20,000 to be split between the director and the international distributor of the film.

Out of the ten films in competition at the 23rd edition of Giornate degli Autori, it is A veces me entra tristeza, otras veces rebelión by María Aparicio to take home the 2026 GdA Director’s Award. The following statement has been released:

“A woman. A man. Encounters and missed encounters. A possible love story. Two great actors. A film that portrays the solitude of the present, holding together an intimate dimension and a political charge, inviting us to think about labor, immigration and privilege through a delicate mise en scène built on small gestures rather than big events. The personal and the collective, fiction and documentary, history and present time merge into a single breath. We left the cinema deeply moved, by a sadness and a spirit of rebellion that do not oppose one another, but coexist, as two faces of the same disorientation.”

The Europa Cinema Label, instituted by a network of European exhibitors, with the support of the European Union’s MEDIA Programme, is an award dedicated to European films and co-productions, thanks to which the winner will receive the support of Europa Cinemas in promoting the film and distributing it more widely.
This year’s jury, composed by Maria Gesuato (Cinema Teatro Giardino, San Giorgio delle Pertiche, Italy), Vít Janeček (Atlas Cinema, Prague, Czech Republic), Aisling Kane (Light House Cinema, Dublin, Ireland) and Daniel Tollefsen Altamirano (Folkets Bio Umeå, Umeå, Sweden) has bestowed the Europa Cinemas Label on Une femme aujourd’hui by Robert Guediguian.

The jury has released the following statement:
“Une femme aujourd’hui powerfully intertwines the intimate and personal with the political and social, using its protagonist’s experience to explore the broader position of women in contemporary society and family life. With empathy but without simplification, Robert Guediguian captures the tensions between apparent freedom, success and persistent social expectations, between professional independence, sexuality, the desire for intimacy, and the need to live life on one’s own terms. The film is equally strong in its observation of society, as informed by the colonial past and in its portrayal of its protagonist’s inner world – her doubts, vulnerability, defiance, and search for a new direction in life. It approaches serious issues with surprising humour, lightness and humanity, without diminishing their urgency. Despite the range of themes it embraces, the film maintains a strong narrative drive, energy and tension from beginning to end.  This is a very watchable film, and we feel European audiences will embrace the film warmly.”

The People’s Choice Award, assigned on the basis of the votes submitted by audiences in the Sala Perla at the Palazzo del Casinò at the end of each Official Selection screening, has been handed to Balcanica by Nicola Sorcinelli, receiving 76% of the audience votes.