Ken Loach wins Seville prize

The latest collaboration between Loach and writer Paul Laverty tells the story of two women who start their own London-set recruitment agency for immigrants desperate for work.

The Golden Giraldillo comes with a Euros 60,000 ($87,600) cash prize for the pic's distribution in Spain.

Daniele Luchetti's "My Brother Is an Only Child," an Italian early 1960s drama about the family and political disagreements between two brothers, took the Silver Giraldillo and $43,800.

Presided by German helmer-producer Reinhard Hauff, the official section jury also awarded its special prize ex-aequo to Alexander Sokurov's Chechen war story "Alexandra" and tragicomic tale "You, the Living," directed by Sweden’s Roy Andersson. Pics shared $43,800.

Israel's "The Bubble," a gay love story between a Palestinian and a Jew in Tel Aviv, helmed by Eytan Fox, won best film in the Europe_Europe Section. Plaudit was an audience award.

Helena Trestikova's "Marcela," a documentary on the tragic life of a Czech mother, took top kudos in the Eurodoc sidebar.

Fatih Akin's political drama "The Edge of Heaven" scooped the critics award while the Turkey-Greece co-production "Yumurta," directed by Semih Kaplanoglu, won the Eurimages prize.

Running Nov. 2-10, the Seville film fest once more hosted the announcement of the European Film Awards noms, led by six for Stephen Frears' "The Queen."

The Seville confab held tributes to French actor Jean Reno, Italian docu-maker Gianni Mina and German director Alexander Kluge. Fest’s national cinema focus fell this year on the Czech Republic, with Prague-born helmer Jiri Menzel receiving an Honorary Giraldillo. Seville also paid tribute to Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Now in its fourth year, the Seville film fest has rapidly consolidated.

Its main challenge is to become more of a business meeting point for the European film industry. One logical first step, by common consensus, would be to boost its currently limited budget of an annual $2.3 million for future editions.