Involuntary awarded in Brussels
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The Brussels Film Festival came to an end on July 6 after nine days of numerous and wonderful discoveries.
With an eclectic programme spotlighting Europe's emerging talent, Belgian audiences got a chance to see Swiss director Micha Lewinsky’s The Friend and the impressive The Early Years - Erik Nietzsche Part 1 by Danish director Jacob Thuesen, based on an autobiographical script by Lars Von Trier.
The jury, headed by French director Bruno Merle, presented the main award to Swedish title Involuntary, which screened in this year’s Un Certain Regard. Director Ruben Östlund took a break from his Italian holidays to pick up the prize in Brussels. The film was produced by Plattform Produktion and international sales are handled by The Coproduction Office.
The female cast of Valeria Gaï Guermanika’s Russian film Everybody Dies But Me (recently seen in Cannes' International Critics Week) won the Best Performance award.
French productions made a splash in the sidebar prizes: the Audience and the RTBF Awards went to Melodrama Habibi (Une Chanson dans la tête) by Hany Tamba. The director of Lebanese origin was happy with the two prizes for his film, which opened the festival. The BeTV award went to Pierre Schoeller's Versailles.
The young generation of female German filmmakers present in the showcase was honoured with the Canvas Award, which went to Emily Atef's The Stranger in Me . The film was also part of this year’s International Critics Week.
The closing ceremony was followed by the screening of Andrzej Jakimowski's Tricks. The Polish film, honoured with the Label Europa Cinemas at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, will open in Belgian theatres in August.
Aurore Engelen