A right "Coq-up"
According to Henry Ingberg, the secretary-general of Belgium’s French Community, Belgian journalists performed a disservice to the national film industry last year, so no “Coq Awards” for them this year. It is tradition for the awards to be presented during the Festival of Mons to individuals who helped promote Belgian cinema. In response to Belgian journalists’ lack of interest in this sector, the Coq Awards jury (presided over by Grace Winter, for many years at the helm of distributor Progrès Films) decided not to present the awards. Even though a number of Belgian journalists did write articles and reports that were useful, the organisers of the event decided that this boycott was an important symbolic gesture which would go ahead.
The Coq Awards for creating awareness about Belgian cinema went to the youthful team of Pascal Hologne, Céline Masset and Fréderic Génicot, who, against all odds, organised an excellent edition of Oh Ce Court short film festival of Brussels.
The Coq Award for best exhibitor went to Jan De Clercq and Alexander Vandeputte in recognition of the quality of the films programmed at their Lumière Cinema in Bruges. On behalf of the Belgian film community, actor Olivier Gourmet spoke about the disastrous dearth of funds the Belgian government earmarked for its national film industry.
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