The third of this year’s Donostia awards was presented last night to the Italian actress Monica Bellucci at the Velodrome, the first time that the award ceremony has been held at this venue. John Malkovich, the president of the Official Section Jury had the responsibility of handing over the statuette to the actress, who said how grateful she was and that it was an honour to receive this award from a festival that she respected so much. The ceremony was followed by a special screening of two films specifically selected by Monica Bellucci herself: Malena, which she made with Giuseppe Tornatore, and Under Suspicion, with Stephen Hopkins. In the press conference she had given before receiving the award, the actress had mentioned how she had particularly fond memories of shooting Malena over five months in Sicily as this was the film that had enabled her to travel all over the world and make films abroad.