Fernanda Valadez is pulling a double…
The 39-year-old Mexican first-time director has picked up two awards at this year’s San Sebastián Film Festival, which has helped revive the global festival circuit this season with a physical event held September 18-26 in Spain.

Valadez won the Latin Horizons Award and the Spanish Cooperation Award at the festival for her latest film Sin Señas Particulares (Identifying Features).
The Mexican drama centers on a young man recently deported from the U.S. who joins forces with a mother in search of her missing son.

Shot on location in rural Guanajuato, Mexico, the poignant film won two awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It will be distributed in the U.S. by Kino Lorber.
Other Latino winners include Clarisa Navas, who earned the Latin Horizons Award (Special Mention) for One in a Thousand; Maite Alberdi, who won the Audience Award for Best European Film for The Mole Agent; and Amaia Merino and Miguel Angel Llamas, who took home the Irizar Basque Film Award for Where is Mikel?
Led by president Luca Guadagnino, the jury members included Joe Alwyn, Marisa Fernández Armenteros, Michel Franco, and Lena Mossum.
Here’s the full list of winners:
Official Selection Prizes
Golden Shell for Best Film: “Beginning,” Dea Kulumbegashvili
Special Jury Prize: “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan,” Julien Temple
Silver Shell for Best Director: “Beginning,” Dea Kulumbegashvili
Silver Shell for Best Actress: “Beginning,” Ia Sukhitashvili
Silver Shell for Best Actor: “Another Round,” Mads Mikkelsen
Best Screenplay: “Beginning,” Dea Kulumbegashvili and Rati Oneli
Best Cinematography: “Any Crybabies Around?,” Yuta Tsukinaga
Other Festival Prizes
New Directors’ Award: “Last Days of Spring,” Isabel Lamberti
New Directors’ Award (Special Mention): “Slow Singing,” Dong Xingyi
Latin Horizons Award: “Identifying Features,” Fernanda Valadez
Latin Horizons Award (Special Mention): “One in a Thousand,” Clarisa Navas
San Sebastian Audience Award: “The Father,” Florian Zeller
Audience Award for Best European Film: “The Mole Agent,” Maite Alberdi
Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award: “The Metamorphosis of Birds,” Catarina Vasconcelos
Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award (Special Mention): “The Woman Who Ran,” Hong Sang-soo
TVE Another Look Award: “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Eliza Hittman
TVE Another Look Award (Special Mention): “Gull,” Kim Mi-jo
Spanish Cooperation Award: “Identifying Features,” Fernanda Valadez
Irizar Basque Film Award: “Where is Mikel?,” Amaia Merino and Miguel Angel Llamas