The film "Austral", directed by Benjamin Colaux, took top prize in the national film category at the Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF) on Saturday evening, while Michel Franco’s “Sundown” was voted best international film, Belga News Agency reports.
The festival, which kicked off on 23 June, ended on Saturday with the prize-giving ceremony in the prestigious Grand Eldorado room at the UGC De Brouckère cinema complex.
Both the Jury Prize and the Audience Prize in the national category went to the Franco-Belgian production “Une bosse dans le Coeur,” directed by Noé Reutenuer.
Camille De Leu was crowned best national actress prize for her role in Manuel Poutte’s “Sous contrôle”, while best male actor in the national category went to Martin Swabey, for his performance in the same film.
The Best Editing prize was awarded to Yannick Leroy for Grand Prix winner “Austral”.
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In the international category, the Grand Prix went to “Sundown”, a Mexican, French, and Swedish production, while the Jury Prize was won by “Nana”, an Indonesian film directed by Kamila Andini.
Five other films received awards in the “Director’s Week” category. They include "Fogo-Fátuo" by João Pedro Rodrigues, which won the Grand Prix, "Il Buco" by Michelangelo Frammartino, winning the Jury Prize, and "Gentle (Szelíd)" by Anna Eszter Nemes and László Csuja which received the Audience Prize.
"Three minutes - a lengthening" by Bianca Stigter won the Special Mention award as well as the Young European Jury Prize; while "Gentle (Szelíd)", made off with the Fipresci Prize, an international press award judged by a panel of journalists.
In the television section, Belgium’s Francophone radio and TV channel RTBF, received an award for "Petite fleur" by Santiago Mitre, while BeTV won one for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s "Las Bestias".
