For the very first time, a Catalan production opened the Sitges Film Festival: the honor was for Darkness, Jaume Balagueró's first English-language venture. The Time Machine Awards went to two Festival favorites: Guillermo del Toro and David Cronenberg, who also presented his Spider. The Honorary “La General” Award went to legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis. The 2002 closing gala ceremony was one of the most glamorous in the Festival's history: Hannibal Lecter's adventures in Red Dragon brought much of the film's cast and crew to Sitges, including actors Anthony Hopkins and Ralph Fiennes. The retrospective dedicated to European westerns was crowned with the world premiere of Alex de la Iglesia's Eight Hundred Bullets.
