The edition opened with Grand Piano, Eugenio Mira’s aesthetic and technical tour de force, as he returned to the Festival alongside Elijah Wood. Notable attendees included Terry Gilliam, Takashi Miike (who received the Grand Honorary Award and was the subject of a dedicated book), Bill Plympton, Marina de Van, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Simón Andreu, Brillante Mendoza, Sharni Vinson, and Alex Van Warmerdam. Charles Dance also visited Sitges, as part of the Festival’s growing commitment to television. Episodes of Game of Thrones, Hannibal, and The Walking Dead were screened. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially recognized Sitges as an Oscar®-qualifying festival, allowing its short film winners to compete for the American awards.
