Cinco Metros Cuadrados wins Golden Biznaga at Malaga Film Festival

The biznaga is a dried stem topped by bunch of intensely scented jasmine flowers, sold in the streets of Malaga by gypsies. It's the symbol of the Malaga Film Festival, which finished on Saturday, and gives its name to the awards.

Out of 11 full-length feature films, the jury, led by distinguished director Vicente Aranda, were unanimous in giving The Golden Biznaga for best film to Max Lemcke's Cinco Metros Cuadrados, about a young couple caught up in the collapse of Spain's housing market.

The five square metres of the title is the small terrace of their dream flat, never to be completed. The film walked away with four more awards, for best screenplay, best actor, best supporting actor and the critics' prize as well.

The jury's special prize went to another film with a strong social message: Cataluna über alles!, about nationalism and xenophobia in the Catalan heartlands. Geraldine Chaplin won Best Supporting Actress award in the comedy ¿Para que sirve un oso? which also won Best Director for Tom Fernandez. The prizes were given by Malaga's favourite son, Antonio Banderas, at the closing gala.

There was much more, of course: documentaries, Spanish classics, a day of horror from the Sitges Festival, shorts, experimental video, and a whole swathe of Latin American cinema – all in brilliant spring sunshine and among the heady scent of orange blossom.

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