Of Horses and Men wins the Golden Iris Award at the Brussels Film Festival
- The Brussels Film Festival drew to a close this weekend, with the top award going to Icelandic film Of Horses and Men. The Reunion and Farewell to the Moon snagged three and two awards, respectively
The official jury of the festival, comprising singer Raphaël, actors Fabrizio Rongione and Olivier Rabourdin, and actresses Hande Kodja and Anita Kravos, decided to single out Of Horses and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
film profile] by Benedikt Erlingsson (read the review) for the top prize. Released at the end of 2013, the title largely dominated the last Icelandic film awards and has already performed extremely well at festivals around the world. The film is a humorous portrayal of love, focusing on love between men and women – but also between men and horses.
The Jury Prize went to Aces [+see also:
film review
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interview: Alfonso Zarauza
film profile] by Alfonso Zarauza, a film about the extent of the Spanish economic crisis, carried by the energy and vigour of the terrific Lola Duenas. The White Iris Award, meanwhile, was bestowed upon The Reunion [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Swedish visual artist Anna Odell; the jury, just like the young film buffs from the Fedex Cinephile Award as well as the RTBF jury, was captivated by this cinematic experience revolving around a reunion of former classmates that turns sour when the old black sheep of the class (the director herself) decides to settle a score. The Best Cinematography Award was given in recognition of Guido van Gennep’s work on Farewell to the Moon [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Dick Tuinder, another visual artist/director.
The Best Screenplay Award, given out by a separate jury, went to the debut film by Norwegian director Iram Haq, I Am Yours [+see also:
film review
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film profile]. In terms of the Audience Award, the Grand Prix was bestowed upon The Double [+see also:
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film profile], the retro-futuristic nightmare created by English director Richard Ayoade. The Prime TV Award was given to Farewell to the Moon, and the BeTv Award went to the extremely impressive Austrian western, The Dark Valley [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Andreas Prochaska.
Lastly, the Cineuropa Award was handed over to the Croatian film Vis-à-Vis [+see also:
film review
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interview: Nevio Marasovic & Rakan Rus…
film profile] by Nevio Marasovic, a brilliant metatheatrical work and a film within a film, about a director who goes into self-imposed exile on an island with his lead actor in order to test him out and work on the screenplay, and ends up sorting out his own problems while there. In the video below, Marasovic expresses his gratitude for the award:
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