2020
BEST FICTION:
'NESTING'
Alex Verhaest
The jury about 'Nesting':"The visual artist's calculated gaze is palpable in every scene and shot of 'Nesting'. Verhaest creates a world that honors Belgian surrealism, from the beautiful lighting and tight compositions to the claustrophobically escalating sound design and of course the special acting performances - characters that literally have corners cut off. The film feels somewhere between Delvaux and 'Room 104', and never makes a misstep."
BEST DOCU:
'RAINBOW CHILDREN - PORTRAIT OF ELIKA'
Maryam Bayani
The jury about 'Rainbow Children':"A multi-layered portrait of identity. Using children is always a crowd pleaser, but Bayani does not fall into the trap of clichés and brings us a study that is nuanced: at times a terrifying foreshadowing of how we create "the other" from the very youngest age, at other times heart-warming, with thanks to the star of the film, Elika, with whom it is impossible not to connect."
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BEST ANIMATION:
'SOUS LES PINS'
Sebastien Baillou
The jury about 'Sous les pins':"What starts as a family outing with a nod to the magic that only children can create, following Hayao Miyazaki's 'My Neighbor Totoro' or 'Spirited Away', ends as a personal story of loss. Baillou does this in a pictorial style that makes him immediately recognizable, deceptively simple, full of life and nuance, a form that in some ways counters narrative and therefore makes it more effective."
AUDIENCE PRIZE:
'HERE.'
Joy Maurice
Here. At the local sports hall in Basel, young people learn not only to walk within the lines but also to explore these boundaries. A portrait about the open-mindedness of girls and boys who, each with their own world, come together in this microcosm and seek connection.
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NO FILM SCHOOL:
'THE LOST PARACOSMIST'
Josephina Van De Water
The jury about 'The Lost Paracosmist':"Just like 'Sous les pins', 'The Lost Paracosmist' is recognizable out of a thousand. Van De Water's modern fable sits somewhere between Raoul Servais and hand-mimeographed early cinema. The story is told in a beautiful and unique way, each image is both a sculpture and a paintingin itself.
PRESS PRICE:
'DON'T LOOK BACK'
Nancy Van Beersel
The story of this leg animation is based on 'Berenice', a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. A man with a fetish for sickly women falls for the seriously ill Berenice. He becomes obsessed with her teeth and after her death he breaks open her grave to recover her teeth. The song 'Don't look Back' by (ex-classmate) Kyoko fits perfectly.
There was an honorable mention for 'Landscape is Hunter' by Simon Debbaut-L'Ecluse.