06/03/2023 - The Liege-born actor and director walked away with the Best Film and Best Director prizes for Nobody Has To Know, while Lukas Dhont’s movie scooped 7 trophies

Actor-director Bouli Lanners with his Magritte awards for Nobody Has To Know and The Night of the 12th (© MdC 2023)

The 12th Magritte Film Awards ceremony unfolded on Saturday 4 March, celebrating the vitality of Belgian cinema - notably of the French-language variety - and shining a light on the movies released across 2022. There were two major outcomes at the event: the triumph of Bouli Lanners, who walked away with the Best Film and Best Director awards for Nobody Has To Know [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bouli Lanners
film profile], as well as the Best Actor accolade for The Night of the 12th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile], and the 7 trophies nabbed by Lukas Dhont’s Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eden Dambrine
interview: Lukas Dhont
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile], a Flemish film also competing for the “technical” artistic and acting awards.

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Bouli Lanners’ triumph is especially impressive for the fact that it’s the third time (out of three nominations) the filmmaker has walked away with the Magritte Awards’ two key prizes, following the success of The Giants [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Bouli Lanners
film profile] in 2012 and The First, The Last [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bouli Lanners
film profile] in 2017. It’s also the fifth Best Film prize scooped by its producer Jacques-Henri Bronckart (Versus Production), out of 12 possible editions. Versus had even greater cause to celebrate, since the Liege-based firm also walked away with the Best Co-Produced Foreign Film prize for The Night of the 12th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile] by Dominik Moll, and can likewise claim victory for the prizes won by Close which the firm co-produced.

And it was none other than Close which proved the other big winner of the evening, bagging no less than 7 awards. In the absence of Lukas Dhont, who’s incredibly active in the USA at present, prepping for the Oscars where his film is due compete next weekend, the movie bagged the Best Flemish Film trophy, as well as that for Best Screenplay, two prizes which the filmmaker previously claimed back in 2019 by way of his first feature film Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile]. Close also scooped the Best Photography award via Frank van den Eeden, Best Set Design via Eve Martin, and three acting accolades: Best Male Newcomer for Eden Dambrine, Best Supporting Actor for Igor Van Dessel, and Best Supporting Actress for Emilie Dequenne who is now on her fourth trophy, making her the most Magritte-rewarded actress at the event.

Another hotly anticipated trophy was that for Best Actress, which, unsurprisingly, after her victory the previous weekend at the Cesars, went to Virginie Efira for her role in Alice Winocour’s Paris Memories [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Winocour
film profile]. Meanwhile, young actress Sophie Breyer scooped the Best Female Newcomer award for her part in Christophe Hermans’ The Hive [+see also:
film review
interview: Christophe Hermans
film profile].

Another movie stealing focus on the winners’ list is Zero Fucks Given [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Marre and Julie Le…
film profile], a first feature film by Emmanuel Marre and Julie Lecoustre which turned a few heads in Cannes where it was selected in Critics’ Week, and which also earned itself 9 Magritte nominations. The movie ultimately walked away with the award for Best First Film, as well as Best Editing for Nicolas Rumpl and Best Costumes for Prunelle Rulens.

Last but not least, Nabil Ben Yadir’s shocking film Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nabil Ben Yadir
film profile] was rewarded for sound, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s astonishing movie Rebel [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fal…
film profile] received the award for Best Original Score, and Laure Portier won Best Documentary for Soy Libre [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The full list of award-winners is as follows:

Best Film
Nobody Has To Know [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bouli Lanners
film profile] - Bouli Lanners (Belgium/France/UK)

Best First Film
Zero Fucks Given [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Marre and Julie Le…
film profile] - Julie Lecoustre & Emmanuel Marre (Belgium/France)

Best Director
Bouli Lanners – Nobody Has To Know

Best Flemish Film
Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eden Dambrine
interview: Lukas Dhont
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] - Lukas Dhont (Belgium/France/the Netherlands)

Best Co-Produced Foreign Film
The Night of the 12th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile] - Dominik Moll (France/Belgium)

Best Documentary
Soy Libre [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Laure Portier (France/Belgium)

Best Original or Adapted Screenplay
Lukas Dhont and Angelo Tijssens - Close

Best Actress
Virginie Efira – Paris Memories [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Winocour
film profile] (France)

Best Actor
Bouli Lanners – The Night of the 12th

Best Supporting Actress
Emilie Dequenne - Close

Best Supporting Actor
Igor Van Dessel - Close

Best Female Newcomer
Sophie Breyer – The Hive [+see also:
film review
interview: Christophe Hermans
film profile] (Belgium/France)

Best Male Newcomer
Eden Dambrine - Close

Best Photography
Frank van den Eeden - Close

Best Sound
François Aubinet, Mathieu Cox, Pierre Mertens, David Vranken, Philippe Van Leer - Animals [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nabil Ben Yadir
film profile] (Belgium/France)

Best Set Design
Eve Martin - Close

Best Costumes
Prunelle Rulens – Zero Fucks Given

Best Original Score
Hannes de Maeyer, Oum and Aboubakr Bensaihi - Rebel [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fal…
film profile] (Belgium/Luxembourg/France)

Best Editing
Nicolas Rumpl – Zero Fucks Given

Best Short Fiction Film
Ma gueule - Grégory Carnoli and Thibaut Wohlfahrt

Best Animated Short
Câline - Margot Reumont (Belgium/France)

Best Short Documentary
Arbres - Jean-Benoît Ugeux (Belgium)

Honorary Magritte
Agnès Jaoui

(Translated from French)