13/11/2023 - The project by Belgian director Leni Huyghe scooped the main Development Grant at the Arras Film Festival, while Stephan Komandarev’s Made in EU also won an award

At the close of an intense day of pitches, the jury (composed of Danijel Pek, Meinolf Zurhorst and Hélène Auclaire) of the 12th edition of Arras Days, whose Development Grant is awarded within the 24th Arras Film Festival, chose two projects as its winners.

The main grant (consisting of 7,500 euros, put forward by the Arras Film Festival) was won by Real Faces, a first feature film project by Belgium’s Leni Huyghe. The story revolves around 29-year-old Julia, an ambitious casting agent who moves to Brussels following a break-up. Trying hard to create a new life for herself, she hides her insecurities behind a facade of success and happiness. She meets a 32-year-old reclusive microbiologist called Eliott and forges an unexpected, genuine friendship with him, which encourages her to break free from society’s expectations… The movie’s production is steered by Mirage Films.

The second development grant (composed of 5,000 euros, put forward by the City of Arras) was awarded to Made in EU by Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev (the winner of this year’s Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary, thanks to Blaga's Lessons [+see also:
film review
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile], who was also selected in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2017 via Directions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile]). The story for his new project revolves around 43-year-old Iva who’s a seamstress in a small town. She’s forced to hide the fact that’s she’s ill in order to keep her job, but when the Covid-19 pandemic spreads throughout the town, all the blame falls on her as she’s demonised by the local community…

The full report on the various projects can be found here.

For the record, Mother by Teona Strugar Mitevska was the movie which walked away with the main prize last year (read our news), with Kinology recently acquiring international sales rights for the film.

(Translated from French)