The 41st Love International Film Festival in Mons wrapped on Saturday 14 March with the announcement of its victors, spearheaded by Abu Bakr Shawky’s The Stories [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Abu Bakr Shawky
scheda film], which was crowned with the Grand Prize. Unveiled in the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, The Stories paints a portrait of ordinary people’s lives in extraordinary times; specifically the life of an Egyptian family during the second half of the 20th century, as they bear witness to major historical events which resonate with their own emotions and private stories.

Chaired by French-American actor and director Jean-Marc Barr, and further composed of director Emma Benestan, actress Tiphaine Daviot, actor Enrico Roccaforte, director Nicolas Boukhrief and actress-director Marilyne Canto, the international jury presented its Best Screenplay Award to Ingrid Santos Piñol’s Spanish-Mexican film Beef [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Asaari Bibang
scheda film], which follows Lati, a teenage girl from Barcelona who’s also of African origin, who dreams about rapping, a pursuit her mother disapproves of, believing it dangerous and vulgar in equal measures. The young girl subsequently indulges her passion in secret, overcoming external and internal obstacles to her calling. The film also won over the Cineuropa Jury, who likewise presented it with a prize.

The final trophy handed out by the international jury was the Acting Award, bestowed upon Agathe Rousselle. The multitalented performer discovered in Titane [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Julia Ducournau, Vincent L…
scheda film] is returning to the big screen with Laurent Slama’s A Second Life [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], unveiled in the Tribeca Festival, which plunges us into Paris in the summer of 2024 when the city’s abuzz with Olympic fervour. She plays a young woman on the verge of burnout who takes a step back and retreats into herself whenever she removes her hearing aids, and whose chance encounter with a young Californian jolts her out of her bubble. The film also received the Citizen’s Eye Award.

The audience also had their say, naming as Best Film Per te by Italian director Alessandro Aronadio. The movie tells the poignant story of a son and a father, in which the memory of the latter, who’s barely 40, is beginning to falter due to early-onset Alzheimer’s.

The festival also hosted a Belgian short film competition, which saw Futur antérieur, by Amélie Navarro and Gaëtan D’Agostino, walking away with the Jury Prize, and En voiture Clara by Sara Dufossé scooping the UCC/UPCB Press Jury Prize.

The full list of awards is as follows:

International Competition

Grand Prize
The Stories [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Abu Bakr Shawky
scheda film] - Abu Bakr Shawky (Austria/Egypt/France/Belgium/Sweden)

Screenplay Award
Beef [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Asaari Bibang
scheda film] - Ingride Santos Piñol (Spain/Mexico)

Acting Award
Agathe Rousselle - A Second Life [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] (France)

Belgian Short Film Competition

Belgian Shorts Jury Prize
Futur antérieur - Amélie Navarro and Gaëtan D’Agostino (Belgium)

UCC/UPCB Press Jury Prize
En voiture Clara - Sara Dufossé (Belgium)

Other awards

Cineuropa Prize
Beef - Ingride Santos Piñol

Audience Award
Per te - Alessandro Aronadio (Italy)

Citizen’s Eye Award
A Second Life - Laurent Slama