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Chocolate awards conclude the 2019 Brussels Independent Film Festival
The 2019 edition of the Brussels Independent Film Festival closed on Saturday evening with the presentation of the 'Atomium Film Awards'. The filmmakers were crowned with Belgian chocolate and thus edible medallions of the Atomium, made by 'Gault & Millau Finest Chocolatier' Wim Vyverman.
The prize for the best narrative feature film was a tie and went to both 'My Thesis Film: A Thesis Film by Erik Anderson' (Canada) by Erik Anderson and 'Majnuni' (Bosnia and Herzegovina) by Kouros Alaghband. In Persian and Arabic, the title 'Majnuni', translates as unfulfilled longing or a particular strain of love-mania that in some cases is aimed at the divine. In this film, we follow a modern-day Majnun, a musical stalker named Adnan, who stalks a broken family and his ex-lover through the war-torn spring of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The madness of his longing spirals him into a musical fugue where he begins to lose his identity and chases after his old love. The film was made under the mentorship of Béla Tarr and had its international premiere at the Brussels Independent Film Festival. The co-winner of the 'best narrative feature film' award Erik Anderson was present at the awards ceremony on Saturday to accept the chocolate award for his film 'My Thesis Film: A Thesis Film by Erik Anderson', which had its European premiere at the festival. A 4-hour long epic look on the struggles of a filmmaker and his quest for a thesis concept which will not only satisfy himself as an artist, but his university and the industry at large.
Belgian director Meltse Van Coillie was also present during the award ceremony to accept the award of 'Best Belgian Film' for her amazing short film 'Elephantfish'. In this film we find ourselves aboard of a cargo ship, drifting in an endless sea. This vast emptiness in time and space is something the sailors cope with in their own ways. Imagination rises from beneath the surface and gradually takes the helm.
The prize for the best documentary feature was for 'Acta Non Verba' (Switzerland) by Yvann Yagchi. 'Diva & Astro' (United States) by Angel Barroeta received the prize for best narrative short film. The best documentary short film went to 'Cleaning Schaerbeek' (Lebanon) by Farah Kassem. The best experimental film was for Matthias De Groof and his film 'Lobi Kuna' (Belgium). The best music video award went to 'Son Lux // The Fool You Need' (United States) by Jean-Paul Frenay. Last, but not least 'Shadow' (China) by Lei Lei won the prize for best animated film.
Out of more than 2,000 entries, 81 films were selected to be screened. All the screenings of this edition were practically fully booked. The 2019 edition started on February 10 in the Atomium and continued until February 16 with screenings at Cinema Galeries and Cinema Ritcs.
The Brussels Independent Film Festival found its inspiration with the Brussels International Independent Film Festival, which started in 1974 but ended in 2012. The festival focused on experimental, provocative films. Among others Pedro Almodóvar, François Ozon and Nanni Moretti were invited. "Our down-to-earth approach of the festival concept is being appreciated by both the audience and filmmakers.", says organizer Kris De Meester. "No red carpet, nor fancy parties or endless Q&A's, but intimate screenings of challenging work from across the globe."
Official selection 2019
Best Narrative Feature Film: a tie between
My Thesis Film: A Thesis Film By Erik Anderson (Canada) by Erik Anderson
Majnuni (Bosnia and Herzegovina) by Kouros Alaghband
Best Documentary Feature Film: Acta Non Verba (Switzerland) by Yvann Yagchi
Best Belgian Film: Elephantfish (Belgium) by Meltse Van Coillie
Best Narrative Short Film: Diva & Astro (United States) by Angel Barroeta
Best Documentary Short Film: Cleaning Schaerbeek (Lebanon) by Farah Kassem
Best Experimental Film: Lobi Kuna (Belgium) by Matthias De Groof
Best Music Video: Son Lux // The Fool You Need (United States) by Jean-Paul Frenay
Best Animated Film: Shadow (China) by Lei Lei
A Doll's Hug (Taiwan) by Rob Chihhwen Lo
Pain Is Mine (Australia) by Farshid Akhlaghi
The Dead Man Speaks (The Netherlands) by Marcos Mereles
Happy New Year (The Netherlands by Brandon Grötzinger, Wander Theunis
Etangs Noirs (Belgium) by Pieter Dumoulin, Timeau De Keyser
Island (Germany) by Max Mörtl, Robert Löbel
Passage (Canada) by Henry Colin
Pause (Cyprus) by Tonia Mishiali
Humandroid Lovers (Germany) by Anna Jordan Project
Anita (Mexico) by Lucero Adriana Hernández Camargo
Me, Documented (United Kingdom) by Caity Lougheed
2nd Class (Sweden) by Jimmy Olsson
Nap With Roger - Paris (United States) by Victor Mignatti
In Bloom (United Kingdom) by Maya Armon
A Dog Leashed (United States) by Dane Cree
Ophelia (France) by Eric Du Bellay
Compared To Me (Belgium) by Simon Van Der Zande
Waithood (Belgium) by Louisiana Mees
Vacuum (Malaysia) by Gabriel Gabriel Garble
The Bitter With The Sweet (Germany) by Ann Sophie Lindström
Fragments 83 (United States) by Richard Millen, Corentin Koskas
Rita (Greece) by George Danopoulos
The Ballad (Canada) by Haya Waseem
Flora (United States) by Chaerin Im
Inventory Of Time (Brazil) by Khalil Charif
Koka, The Butcher (Germany) by Bence Máté
Can't Take My Eyes Off You (United States) by Gabriele Fabbro
First Kiss (United Kingdom) by Ali Aschman
Think Of Something Blue (The Netherlands) by De Mars
Tokio.Papa (Russian Federation) by Lada Savenkova
Scandal (Réunion) by Pablo Mengin-Lecreulx
This Particular Feeling (Canada) by Jocelyne Laliberté
The Dream Hatcher (Russian Federation) By Mel Hsieh
Divisional Articulations (Hong Kong)By Max Hattler
Hurry Slowly (Norway) by Anders Emblem
Sculpt The Motion (Italy) By Devis Venturelli
The Kingdom Of Men (Hong Kong) By Sham Kwan Yin
Mr. Darcy (China) by Xuyu Zhang
Kev (Belgium) by Clémence Hébert
How Can I Tell You (France) by Barbara Creutz
Vonnis (Belgium) by Walt Bladt
As Trees We Will Return (Belgium) by Mira Borghs
Deer Boy (Poland) by Katarzyna Gondek
Kresala (Belgium) by June Laka
Reset (netherlands) by Aldine Reinink
Sleep On The Tracks (Canada) by Jasmin Mozaffari
Nicabob (United States) by Daneeta Loretta Jackson, Patrick Jackson
Flotating (Spain) by Frankie De Leonardis
Black Dog (United States) by Joshua Tuthill
Maned & Macho (Iran, Islamic Republic Of) by Shiva Sadegh Asadi
Passage (Australia) by Ashley Young
Pale Blue Me (Austria) by Theresa Haas, Maurice Miller
Nebula (Poland) by Marcin Nowrotek
Nocturnes (France) by Emmanuel Levy
Chess (Germany) by Aniqo, Anita Goss, Sebastian Ganschow, Peter Hönnemann
Appocundria (Italy) by Mino Capuano
I Come From The Fire City (United States) by Daniel Daly
Dalaimalaya (Belgium) by Manu Gomez
Seascape (Belgium) by Leni Huyghe
Dispersion (Switzerland) by Basile Vuillemin
Fake News (Greece) by Dimitris Katsimiris
Elisa (germany) by Kristina Kean Shtubert
Sleepers (The Netherlands) by Danny Maas
Parting Shot (Turkey) by Özgür Cem Aksoy
The Velvet Underground Played At My High School (United States) by Robert Pietri, Tony Jannelli
Into The Stream (United Kingdom) by Alexey Marfin
The Dancer (France) by Anaïs Desmond
Open Wide (United Kingdom) by Behnam Taheri, Gideon Beresford
Onikuma (Italy) by Alessia Cecchet
Aranay (Cuba) by Rudolf Fitzgerald-Leonard
Songs In The Sun (Denmark) by Kristian Sejrbo Lidegaard
