06/07/2023 - The festival just announced its list of winners, generously crowning two Belgian films as successful as they are different, as well as the Australian film Limbo

This Wednesday, the 6th edition of the Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF) came to a close, crowned by real public success and an exciting selection, with the ceremony awarding no less than 17 prizes, distributed across its three competitions.

This year, the National Competition brought together 10 features – some fiction and documentary works, some exclusive films as well as movies discovered in prestigious festivals, first features and new films from renowned filmmakers. Two films emerged as the big winners. Already awarded in 2021 for Lucie Loses Her Horse [+see also:
film review
interview: Claude Schmitz
film profile], Claude Schmitz stands out once again in Brussels by again winning the Grand Prix of the National Competition, this time for The Other Laurens [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claude Schmitz
film profile], his second feature, a meta film noir around genre codes (social as well as cinematic) presented last May in Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight section. The film also wins the Best Cinematography Award ex-aequo given to Florian Berutti, as well as the Best Actor Award for Olivier Rabourdin.

Another three-time award winner is Adieu sauvage [+see also:
film review
interview: Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento
film profile], the first feature by Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento. This powerful and intimate documentary, which investigates the wave of suicides that overwhelms an aboriginal Colombian community, but also the quest for identity of the filmmaker, discovered at Cinéma du Réel, seduced the jury, the audience and journalists, since it receives the Jury Prize, the Audience Award and the Press Award.

In the National Competition, the Australian film Limbo by Ivan Sen, discovered in the official competition in Berlin, won the Grand Jury Prize, from a panel including Radu Jude, Mariama Gueye, Evgueni Galperine, Déborah François and Matthieu Donck. The Jury Prize, meanwhile, was given to Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile], discovered in official selection in Cannes, which also won the BeTV Award. The public chose to crown the Palme d’Or winner, by awarding Anatomy of a Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Justine Triet
film profile] by Justine Triet.

Finally, the festival organises a third competition, Director's Week. This section was won by the Swedish film 100 Seasons [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giovanni Bucchieri
film profile], presented at the Rotterdam Festival last February. Its director, Giovanni Bucchieri, a dancer and choreographer, revisits his first love affair and his bipolarity in a fictional account of his own life. The film won the Grand Prize, as well as the Young Jury Prize. The Jury Prize went to another Scandinavian film, Family Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tia Kouvo
film profile], the first feature by Finnish director Tia Kouvo, a comedy based on a classic theme: the traditional family Christmas meal.

Finally, the RTBF prize was awarded to Marie Amachoukeli's film Ama Gloria [+see also:
film review
interview: Marie Amachoukeli
film profile], which was discovered in Critics’ Week in Cannes.

The list of winners:

International Competition

Grand Prize
Limbo - Ivan Sen (Australia)

Prix du Jury
Four Daughters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] - Kaouther Ben Hania (France/Tunisia)

Prix du Public
Anatomy of a Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Justine Triet
film profile] - Justine Triet (France)

Director’s Week

Grand Prize
100 Seasons [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giovanni Bucchieri
film profile] - Giovanni Bucchieri (Sweden)

Jury Prize
Family Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tia Kouvo
film profile] - Tia Kouvo (Finland/Sweden)

Youth European Jury Prize
100 Seasons - Giovanni Bucchieri (Sweden)

National Competition

Grand Prize
The Other Laurens [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claude Schmitz
film profile] - Claude Schmitz (Belgium/France)

Prix du Jury
Adieu sauvage [+see also:
film review
interview: Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento
film profile] - Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento (Belgium)

Best Actor Award
Olivier Rabourdin - The Other Laurens

Best Actress Award
Jelena Kordič Kuret - The Happiest Man in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile] (North Macedonia/Belgium/Slovenia/Denmark/Croatia/Bosnia)

Audience Award
Adieu sauvage - Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento

Best Sound Award
Ingrid Simon, Kristoffer Salting, Viktor Grabar - The Happiest Man in the World

Best Editing Award
Cédric Zoenen (in collaboration with John Pirard) - Se crasher pour exister (Belgium)

Best Cinematography Award
Florian Berutti - The Other Laurens
Virginie Surdej - Luka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Woodworth
film profile] (Belgium/Italy/Netherlands/Bulgaria)

Other awards

FIPRESCI Award
Adieu sauvage - Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento

BeTV Award
Four Daughters - Kaouther Ben Hania

RTBF Award
Ama Gloria [+see also:
film review
interview: Marie Amachoukeli
film profile] - Marie Amachoukeli (France)

(Translated from French)