Director Paul Thomas Anderson will receive at San Sebastian Festival the Fipresci Grand Prix for Best Film of the Year, granted by the international critics who have decided to award the distinction to his film, There Will Be Blood. The director of films like Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999) and Punch-Drunk Love (2002) will collect the award at the Festival opening gala in the Kursaal Auditorium on September 18.
“The choice was extremely clear for the 242 members of the International Federation of Film Critics who voted, considering Paul Thomas Anderson’s film to be the best of the year”, stated Fipresci.
Paul Thomas Anderson, the five time Academy Awards nominee (for the original screenplays of Boogie Nights and Magnolia and for the adapted screenplay, directing and production of There Will Be Blood), won yet another Fipresci Grand Prix in 2000 for Magnolia. This award has gone in recent years to directors including Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Uzak), Jean-Luc Godard (Notre musique), Kim Ki-Duk (3-Iron), Pedro Almodóvar (Volver) and Cristian Mungiu (4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days).
There Will Be Blood won in 2008 the Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlin Film Festival and two Academy Awards: Actor in a Leading Role for Daniel Day Lewis and Cinematography for Robert Elswit. The film received eight nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Directing and Adapted Screenplay. There Will Be Blood will be shown at a special screening in the Victoria Eugenia Theatre.
For further information please visit www.fipresci.org