Neighbours scoops the Grand Prize at the Mons International Film Festival
- The Kurdish-Swiss movie by filmmaker Mano Khalil triumphed at the festival this weekend, while A Brixton Tale walked away with the Cineuropa Award
The tremendously topical Swiss film Neighbours [+see also:
film review
film profile] by the Syrian director of Kurdish origin Mano Khalil has scooped the 37th Mons International Film Festival’s Grand Prize The movie charts the absurdity of the threat of war as seen through the eyes of a young six-year-old child living on the Syrian-Turkish border at the beginning of the 80s, who witnesses the rise of nationalism, which leads to a very sombre period and a bloody dictatorship. The film also earned itself the Citizen’s Outlook Award.
Staying in the region of Kurdistan, though on the Iraqi side this time, The Exam [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shawkat Amin Korki
film profile] by Iraqi filmmaker Shawkat Amin Korki did itself proud, previously winning the FIPRESCI Prize in Karlovy Vary and the recipient of Mons’ Jury Prize this weekend. The Best Screenplay Award, meanwhile, went to As Far As I Can Walk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Arsenijević
film profile] by Serbia’s Stefan Arsenijević, which was also discovered in Karlovy Vary and is yet another film wrestling with current affairs, following the road walked by a Ghanaian migrant who’s herded into various refugee camps in Belgrade after trying to cross the border into the European Union.
The last award handed out by the jury, the Best Performance Prize, was won by young Belgian actress Sophie Breyer for her part in The Hive [+see also:
film review
interview: Christophe Hermans
film profile] by Christophe Hermans.
Cineuropa also played an active role in these awards by way of the Cineuropa Award, which was bestowed upon A Brixton Tale [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darragh Carey, Bertrand Des…
film profile] by Darragh Carey and Bertrand Desrochers, and which tells a dramatic love story between a young, white, middle-class YouTuber and a young black man from a working class neighbourhood who’s the focus of her videos.
Last but not least, Rose [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which is the first feature film by French director Aurélie Saada, won two very similar awards: the City of Mons Audience Award and the French-Speaking Audience Award, the latter of which was handed out by TV5 Monde.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Grand Prize
Neighbours [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Mano Khalil (Switzerland/France)
Jury Award
The Exam [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shawkat Amin Korki
film profile] - Shawkat Amin Korki (Germany/Iraq/Qatar)
Best Screenplay
As Far As I Can Walk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Arsenijević
film profile] - Stefan Arsenijevic (Serbia/France/Luxembourg/Bulgaria/Lithuania)
Best Acting Performance
Sophie Breyer – The Hive [+see also:
film review
interview: Christophe Hermans
film profile] (Belgium/France)
City of Mons Audience Award
Rose [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Aurélie Saada (France)
Cineuropa Award
A Brixton Tale [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darragh Carey, Bertrand Des…
film profile] - Darragh Carey and Bertrand Desrochers (UK/Germany)
Citizen’s Outlook Award
Neighbours - Mano Khalil
Compétition des 400 Coups (Hard Hitters Competition) - Belgian Jury Award
Nuestros días más felices - Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière (Argentina)
Special Mention
Bloody Oranges [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Christophe Meurisse
film profile] - Jean-Christophe Meurisse (France)
RTBF Award
Vortex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Christophe Meurisse
film profile] - Gaspard Noé (France/Belgium/Monaco)
TV5 Monde French-Speaking Audience Award
Rose - Aurélie Saada
Short Films Jury Prize
Nuits sans sommeil - Jérémy Van Der Haegen (Belgium)
Belgian Press Award for Best Belgian Short
Ligie - Aline Magrez (Belgium)
(Translated from French)
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