FEFFS announces Méliès d’Argent winners 2026

The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival has come to a close after its 19th edition, held from 25 September to 4 October 2026. One of France’s major platforms for fantastic cinema, the festival brings together new international genre productions with retrospectives, special programmes and events exploring the many forms of fantastic film. As an Affiliated Member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation, Strasbourg is the only festival in France to organise both Méliès d’argent competitions for European feature and short films.  

This year, the two competitions celebrated The End of It by Maria Martínez Bayona and The Old Lady and the Eternity by Marc Martínez Jordán.

And the winner is…

The winner of the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best European Fantastic Genre Feature Film at FEFFS is “The End of It” by Maria Martinez Bayona (Norway, United Kingdom, Spain 2026).    

In a near-future world where ageing can be cured and death is now optional, Claire (Rebecca Hall) a former provocative artist approaching her 250th birthday, decides she’s had enough – she wants to die. Her decision stirs conflicts with her husband (Gael García Bernal), daughter (Noomi Rapace) and AI assistant (Beanie Feldstein), revealing the humorous complexity of their relationships. As Claire uses her impending death to reclaim her role as an artist, she is forced to face what it really means to die, to live, and the messy absurdity of it all.

The winner of the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best European Fantastic Genre Short Film at FEFFS is “The Old Lady and the Eternity” by Marc Martínez Jordán
(Spain 2026).    

Josefa Centeno, an 86-year-old woman, refuses to be uploaded to a digital afterlife, facing the consequences of defying the authoritarian regime. Built around archival footage, the director re-imagines his grandmother’s life as a sci-fi fable about love, resistance and what it means to choose your own ending.