'Darkness' spooks Spain
Pic underscores good run for local pix after soft start
"Darkness," produced by Barcelona's Filmax and starring Anna Paquin and Lena Olin, opened the Sitges Catalonia Intl. Film Festival Oct. 3.
"Darkness," a Dimension pickup for the U.S., bested Pedro Almodovar's "Talk to Her," which scored $1,099,384 off 276 copies in March. It underscores a good home-turf run for local pics after a soft early start when market share dropped from 18% for 2001 to 11% from January to August this year.
Led by "Darkness" and "Mondays in the Sun" ($1.9 million after 17 days) six Spanish films figured in the country's 15 highest grossing pics from Friday to Sunday.
Sitges fest, which wrapped Sunday, gave Canadian Guy Maddin's movie-ballet, "Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary," a surprise film nod in the fantasy film section.
Maddin beat favorite "Spider" -- David Cronenberg's psychological thriller settled for a director plaudit. Jeremy Northam won actor for "Cypher" and Angela Bettis took actress honors for "May."
Paco Plaza's "Second Name" scooped the Silver Melies as European Fantasy Feature. Cronenberg and Mexican helmer Guillermo del Toro received career achievement awards, while Sitges' highest award, the General, went to producer Dino de Laurentiis. Sitges is the platform for genre pics from the country's young generation of filmmakers.
