# Dao Claims Golden Spike as La Gradiva Earns Silver at Valladolid Festival > Alain Gomis' 3-hour saga Dao captured the Golden Spike at the 71st Valladolid International Film Festival, while Marine Atlan's debut La Gradiva took the Silver Spike. - Publisher: Briefzora (https://briefzora.com) - URL: https://briefzora.com/dao-claims-golden-spike-as-la-gradiva-earns-silver-at-valladolid-festival - Published: 2026-11-01T18:02:00+05:00 - Author: Briefzora Desk (https://briefzora.com/author/briefzora-desk) - Section: Pakistan - Topics: Alain Gomis, Dao, La Gradiva, Seminci, Valladolid International Film Festival - Image: https://briefzora.com/uploads/2026/11/valladolid-festival-prizes-alain-gomis-dao-wins-golden-spike-la-u6iyvy.webp ## Key points - Alain Gomis' Dao won the Golden Spike at the 71st Valladolid International Film Festival. - Marine Atlan's La Gradiva received the Silver Spike and the José Salcedo editing prize. - Lisandro Alonso earned the Ribera del Duero best director award for Double Freedom. - The festival ran from Oct. 23-31 and attracted 100,000 spectators with over 120 film discussions. - The closing gala was cancelled after a deadly train accident in Toledo province. ## Why it matters Filmmakers, actors, and audiences worldwide were directly impacted by the festival's awards and the event's cancellation due to the Toledo train accident. ## Article Alain Gomis' French-Senegalese feature Dao, a sprawling family epic set across Europe and Africa, was awarded the Golden Spike for best film at the 71st Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci). Marine Atlan's acclaimed debut La Gradiva earned the Silver Spike. Dao follows a wedding in France and an ancestral memorial in Guinea-Bissau, blending fiction and documentary while assembling a wide cast of professional and non-professional actors to examine family bonds, migration and inherited customs. The international jury praised the film's distinct cinematic language, noting its use of rhythm, duration and movement to create an intimate yet immersive feeling. The 3-hour feature, which world-premiered in competition at Berlin, marks Gomis' return to fiction after 2017 Berlinale Grand Jury Prize winner Félicité. Variety's Guy Lodge described Dao as the director's "most vibrantly expansive and accessible" work. Party Film Sales handles international sales, while Janus Films holds North American distribution rights. La Gradiva premiered at Cannes Critics' Week, where it secured the top Grand Prix, and later received the Melbourne International Film Festival Bright Horizons Award in August. At Valladolid, the French-Italian film also won the José Salcedo editing prize for Guillaume Lillo and the Rainbow Spike for LGBTQ-related cinema. Set during a French school trip to Naples and Pompeii, La Gradiva follows teenagers navigating desire, insecurity and the last moments of adolescence. Variety critic Jessica Kiang called it "seismically sensitive and deeply moving," adding it is "one of the most piercingly accurate and immersive portrayals ever" of that fragile age. MK2 Films represents international sales. Argentine filmmaker Lisandro Alonso received the Ribera del Duero best director award for Double Freedom, a well-received sequel to his 2001 debut Freedom. The film is sold by Luxbox. Acting awards went to Alba Rohrwacher for Stéphane Brizé's A Good Little Soldier, in which she portrays a corporate executive trapped in a profit-driven system, and Swann Arlaud for Emmanuel Marre's A Man of His Time, about a French engineer drawn into the Vichy regime. Marre's film also won the cinematography award for Olivier Boonjing. Austrian filmmaker Sandra Wollner captured the Miguel Delibes screenplay prize for Everytime, a drama exploring grief and memory through digital technology. The official competition jury also gave a special mention to Tiago Guedes' Aquí. Outside the main competition, Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse took the Meeting Point prize for 9 Temples to Heaven, a family pilgrimage drama that premiered in Cannes Directors' Fortnight. The film marks the fiction-feature debut of a frequent collaborator of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Marc Ferrer's Cinemanía received the Fundos Award, while Manon Coubia won the ESCAC directing prize for Forest High. Spanish debut Salen las lobas emerged as a double audience favourite, securing both the Meeting Point Audience Award and the Seminci Youth Prize. Directed by Claudia Estrada Tarascó, the film follows girls in a juvenile justice facility who bond over music and hope for a Barcelona trap competition. Produced by Alba Sotorra's Oceanika, it is sold internationally by MoreThan Films and is slated for a Dec. 11 Spanish theatrical release through Silencio Cinema. In the Alchemies section, Ivan Marković's Promised Spaces, a portrait of Cambodia's rapidly transformed urban landscape, won the Grand Prize. David Baute's Benigno, about an elderly man preserving a disappearing way of life in the Canary Islands, received a special mention and the environmental Green Spike. Hassen Ferhani's Algeria-France production Alea Jacarandas claimed the Time of History Grand Prize, while Mariano Llinás' Life of Jorge Luis Borges received the special award. Isabelle Stever's I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming earned the FIPRESCI critics' prize, and Markus Schleinzer's Rose won the main competition Audience Award. Seminci announced its winners on Saturday morning in Valladolid after the traditional closing gala was cancelled due to a deadly train accident in Toledo province. The 71st edition ran Oct. 23-31, led by interim co-directors Mariona Viader and Javier H. Estrada following José Luis Cienfuegos' death in December. Organisers reported a provisional audience of 100,000, more than 120 film discussions, and participation by over 90% of the directors represented in official sections. The festival closed with the Spanish premiere of Gael García Bernal's Hombre al agua. **OFFICIAL COMPETITION** **Golden Spike** Alain Gomis, Dao **Silver Spike** Marine Atlan, La Gradiva **Ribera del Duero Award for Best Director** Lisandro Alonso, Double Freedom **Best Actress** Alba Rohrwacher, A Good Little Soldier **Best Actor** Swann Arlaud, A Man of His Time **Best Cinematography** Olivier Boonjing, A Man of His Time **Miguel Delibes Award for Best Screenplay** Sandra Wollner, Everytime **José Salcedo Award for Best Editing** Guillaume Lillo, La Gradiva **Special Mention** Tiago Guedes, Aquí **MEETING POINT** **Meeting Point Award** Sompot Chidgasornpongse, 9 Temples to Heaven **Fundos Award** Marc Ferrer, Cinemanía **ESCAC Award for Best Director** Manon Coubia, Forest High **ALCHEMIES** **Grand Prize** Ivan Marković, Promised Spaces **Special Mention** David Baute, Benigno **TIME OF HISTORY** **Grand Prize** Hassen Ferhani, Alea Jacarandas **Special Award** Mariano Llinás, Life of Jorge Luis Borges **DOC. Spain Award** Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro, Letters from an Inner Exile **Special Mention** Beatrice Gibson, At Night **OTHER FEATURE AWARDS** **Pilar Miró Prize for Best New Spanish Director** Sebastián Uría, Adiós, ríos **Miniminci Prize** Javier Martínez and Christian Garnez, Momonsters. Película de Navidad **Seminci Youth Prize** Claudia Estrada Tarascó, Salen las lobas **SHORT FILM AWARDS** **Golden Spike** Arnas Balčiūnas, Class Photo **First Silver Spike** Blanca Camell Galí, First Fire **Second Silver Spike** Natalia Marín, Chronicle of Tiredness **Best European Short Film** Wannes Vanspauwen and Pol De Plecker, Pithead **Best Spanish Short Film** Mariona Martínez, L'enterrament de la sardina **Castilla y León Short Film Award** Juan Carlos Mostaza, Under the Lake **NON-OFFICIAL AWARDS** **Rainbow Spike** Marine Atlan, La Gradiva **Green Spike** David Baute, Benigno **FIPRESCI Prize** Isabelle Stever, I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming **Audience Award, International Competition** Markus Schleinzer, Rose **Audience Award, Meeting Point** Claudia Estrada Tarascó, Salen las lobas **YOUTH JURY AWARDS** **International Competition** Lance Hammer, Queen at Sea **Meeting Point** Jacqueline Lentzou, A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra **Best Short Film** Francisco Visceral Rivera, El tamagochi escarlata ## Frequently asked questions ### What film won the Golden Spike at Valladolid 2024? Alain Gomis' Dao claimed the Golden Spike for best film. ### Which film received the Silver Spike? Marine Atlan's debut La Gradiva earned the Silver Spike. --- When citing, please link to https://briefzora.com/dao-claims-golden-spike-as-la-gradiva-earns-silver-at-valladolid-festival and name Briefzora as the source.