New this year, obviously, was the fact that an in majority Flemish film, Rundskop, co-produced by the mixed fund, won four Magrittes in a ceremony organised by the French-speaking part of the country. No ostracism here, Michaël Roskam summarized this victory in a simple phrase: “This award is very important. It is proof that to make a Belgian film, you need … Belgians”. His film spans Limburg, Eastern Flanders and the province of Liège, with Flemish and Walloon actors, and is a prime example of successful integration. The same goes for the production’s structure, set up by Savage Films and completed in Flanders by Eyeworks and in Brussels by Artémis.
Given the current climate, it would be easy to think these rewards are due to political correctness, however, the ceremony itself would easily dispute such a rumour: each nomination for the film was met with a tad more lively applause than the others. Not to mention how the sole mention of Matthias Schoenaerts’s name managed to set the room on fire. Rundskop is a real phenomenon. Before its recent re-release in cinemas, it already attracted 500,000 spectators in Belgium alone. All year long, it has won awards throughout the world, Matthias became one of the hottest actors of the moment and as you know, Bullhead is nominated at the Oscars for “Best Foreign Film”.
[Matthias Schoenaerts with Stéphanie Hugé, co-productions manager at Wallimage]
Wallimage/Bruxellimage believed in this project from the start, deciding to support an economically interesting and artistically promising project. An investment which proved worthwhile, well beyond expectations.
The other happily surprised group Saturday evening was Les Géants. Evidently, nobody foresaw that Bouli’s fantastic film would be the big winner of the evening. Five awards, for an adventure we have defended from the start: best photography, best female actress in a secondary role for Gwen Berrou, best music for Bram Van Parys (The Bony King of Nowhere) and of course, the incredible double win: best director and best film.
[Bouli ready to take on the world after being showered in awards!)
Bouli is a filmmaker from the Wallimage generation : he started with full length feature films, together with Versus, in the years 2000 and has always been firmly supported by the Walloon fund. The recognition received yesterday from the Belgian film professionals is further proof of a metamorphosing Belgian film, coming closer to the public at large.
[Thomas Doret picking up his award. He will be a hit on the scene]
In addition to these nine remarkable rewards, the other films co-produced by Wallimage also received a series of other prizes: Thomas Doret (Le Gamin au Vélo) was logically crowned best upcoming talent, Quartier Lointain won best decor for Véronique Sacrez’s excellent work and Jérémie Renier in turn was awarded best male actor in a secondary role for his performance in Potiche.
No reason to cry at the end of the ceremony, we’d say. At a time when the Magrittes take advantage of their second edition to achieve national legitimacy and international clamour, the two regional funds are rewarded for their support for the Belgian film by the professionals. In some sports, that would be called a Grand Slam.
The full list of winners can be found HERE .
First picture : ©www.deuxiemeombre.com
Other pictures : ©Philippe Pierquin
