07/10/2013 - The 28th International Francophone Film Festival of Namur ended this Friday by rewarding Child’s Pose by Romanian director Calin Peter Netzer

After a grand opening on September 27 during which Blue is the Warmest Colour [+see also:
film review
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interview: Abdellatif Kechiche
film profile] by Abdellatif Kechiche was acclaimed by Belgian movie-lovers, the 28^th International Francophone Film Festival of Namur (FIFF) ended last Friday with the victory of a Romanian film for the second consecutive year. If years goes by but don’t always resemble each other, this 2013 winners’ list is reminiscent of that of 2012. Like last year, a Romanian production won the favours of the jury, and offered its main protagonist the Best Actor Award. After Everybody in Our Family [+see also:
film review
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interview: Radu Jude
film profile] by Radu Jude, and its actor Serban Pavlu, it was Child’s Pose [+see also:
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interview: Calin Peter Netzer
film profile]’s turn by Calin Peter Netzer to win the Golden Bayard, while its heroine Luminita Gheorghiu won the Best Actress Award – a familiar prize for her, since she had won it before for her role in The Death of Mr Lazarescu [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2005 – which had also won the Bayard. If we add to this list the Golden Bayard for Tuesday, After Christmas [+see also:
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interview: Radu Muntean
film profile] by Radu Muntean in 2010, that makes four Romanian victories in less than 10 years!

Another particularity of the FIFF – and its winners’ lists -, is the place given to documentaries in the competition. The Prize of the Jury 2013 (presided by Lebanese director Nadine Labaki) was thus given to L’Escale [+see also:
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film profile] by Swiss director of Iranian origin Kaveh Bakhtiari, discovered at the Directors’ Fortnight. L’Escale follows the gripping path of Iranian illegal immigrants lost in the Greek purgatory. This prize also echoes that of 2012 with the victory of Swiss documentary Winter Nomads [+see also:
film review
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interview: Manuel von Stürler
film profile], which won two prizes.

Another good surprise in this winners’ list was the Best Actor Award given to Reda Kateb for his role in Gare du Nord [+see also:
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film profile] by Claire Simon, and the Best Cinematography Award for Antoine Héberlé for his work on Grigris [+see also:
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film profile], by Chadian director Mahamat Saleh Haroun.

The FIFF also offers a competition dedicated to first fiction films, which this year rewarded Left Foot, Right Foot [+see also:
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film profile] by Germinal Roaux, putting Switzerland on the winners’ list twice this year. Finally, the jury of this competition, made up of young people aged 18 to 24, confirmed the sympathetic character of Guillaume Galienne’s first film, Me Myself and Mum [+see also:
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film profile], the winner of the Discovery Prize.

(Translated from French)