17/03/2025 - The festival also rewarded Smell of Burnt Milk with the 40th Edition trophy and Paul and Paulette Take a Bath with the Cineuropa Award

The awards ceremony for the 40th Love International Film Festival in Mons took place on Saturday 15 March, crowning Frida Kempff’s Swedish film The Swedish Torpedo [+see also:
film review
interview: Frida Kempff
film profile] - a historical biopic about Sally Bauer, a single 30-year-old mother determined to beat the record for swimming across the Channel at a time when the Second World War is about to break out - its champion. It’s a prize which should help the film – previously presented in Toronto’s Centrepiece section - to be distributed in Belgium, with its French release scheduled for 13 August. Presided over by Belgian actress Déborah François and further composed of fellow Belgian actress Daphné Huynh, French actor Yannick Choirat and French directors Chloé Mazlo and Elie Wajeman, the international jury awarded two additional prizes: Best Screenplay, won by Silver Star [+see also:
film review
film profile] thanks to Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar, a French filmmaking duo based in the USA (the movie’s release in France is scheduled for 8 October, with a Belgian release date likewise to be confirmed), and Best Actor, for the brilliant Ayoub Gretaa who was the hero in Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s Across the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
film profile] (discovered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week), in which he plays a young Moroccan man who arrives in France without legal documents in the early ‘90s and whose sentimental education we follow over the following decade (released in France in February this year, due for release in Belgium on 21 May).

To celebrate its anniversary, the festival also hosted a 40th Edition Competition, geared towards celebrating young talent. The jury for this section awarded its Grand Prize to Justine Bauer’s German movie Smell of Burnt Milk [+see also:
film review
interview: Justine Bauer
film profile], a farming-focused drama about the future of agriculture depicted through the singular fate of a young female farmer. It also insisted on awarding a Film Crush trophy to Grégory Lucilly’s Marmaille [+see also:
film review
film profile], a French film set on Réunion Island which charts the tumultuous trajectories of a teenage brother and sister who’ve been rejected by their mother and who try to get back in touch with the father they’ve never known.

A further three trophies were also handed out in addition to these two official line-ups. The audience singled out Fabienne Godet’s bright and optimistic comedy, Guess Who Is Calling [+see also:
film review
film profile], whose release is scheduled for 4 June in both France and Belgium, while the Regard Citoyen Prize went to Lads [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], young French director Julien Menanteau’s first feature film, which will be released on 2 April in France and on 9 April in Belgium. Last but not least, the Cineuropa Award was awarded to Paul and Paulette Take a Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jethro Massey
film profile] by British filmmaker Jethro Massey, which is a surprising romantic comedy (of sorts) set in Paris, which has fun with New Wave reminiscences and which was unveiled in Venice’s International Critics’ Week.

The winners are as follows:

International Competition

Grand Prize
The Swedish Torpedo [+see also:
film review
interview: Frida Kempff
film profile] - Frida Kempff (Sweden)

Best Screenplay
Silver Star [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar (France)

Best Actor
Ayoub Gretaa – Across the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
film profile] (France/Morocco/Belgium)

40th Edition Competition

40th Edition Prize
Smell of Burnt Milk [+see also:
film review
interview: Justine Bauer
film profile] - Justine Bauer (Germany)

40th Edition Film Crush
Marmaille [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Grégory Lucilly (France)

Other awards

Cineuropa Award
Paul and Paulette Take a Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jethro Massey
film profile] - Jethro Massey (UK)

Audience Award
Guess Who Is Calling [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Fabienne Godet (France)

Regard Citoyen Prize
Lads [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Julien Menanteau (France/Belgium)

Belgian Press Award for Best Short Film
Amour à mort - Ingrid Heiderscheidt (Belgium)

Jury Prize for Best Belgian Short
Home Sweet Home - Tiffany Deleuze (Belgium)

(Translated from French)