Two Belgian co-productions, ‘Emilia Pérez’ and 'Flow', won awards at the Golden Globes in the United States on Sunday night.
Emilia Pérez, French director Jacques Audiard's Spanish-language musical about a Mexican trans cartel boss, was awarded four Golden Globes on Sunday night. The film won both the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy and the Golden Globe for best non-English-language film.
It is a Belgian co-production: the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's production company Les Films du Fleuve, and Brussels-based choreographer Damien Jalet also collaborated on it.
'A beacon of light'
In the best musical or comedy category, the film beat ‘A Real Pain’, ‘Anora’, ‘Challengers’, ‘The Substance’ and ‘Wicked’. In the best non-English language film category, the film took on ‘All We Imagine as Light’, ‘I'm Still Here’, ‘The Girl With The Needle’, ‘The Seed of The Sacred Fig’ and ‘Vermiglio’. Audiard accepted the statuette in Beverly Hills. He said he hoped ‘Emilia Pérez’ could be "a beacon of light" and "a big sister in these difficult times."
‘Emilia Pérez’ also picked up the Golden Globe for best original song for a film (‘El Mal’ by Clement Ducol and Camille) and for best female supporting actor (Zoe Saldana). Saldana thanked the Golden Globes for "honouring the women of 'Emilia Pérez'."
Besides Saldana, actress and singer Selena Gomez (best female supporting actress in a film) and trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón (best actress in a musical or comedy) were also nominated, but they did not win. Earlier, the female cast did win the award for best female performance together at the Cannes Film Festival where the film was also awarded the jury's prize.
In total, the film was nominated for ten Golden Globes.
Joining forces
Belgian co-production ‘Flow’ – a co-production of Latvia, France and Belgium – also won the Golden Globe for best animated film; Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis accepted the award.
‘Flow’ is about a cat who wakes up in a world flooded by water where all human life seems to have disappeared. He is forced to live with a group of other animals on a small boat. Dealing with those other animals proves even more challenging for the cat than overcoming its fear of water.
"The result has exceeded all our expectations," Belgian producer Grégory Zalcman (Take Five) commented in a press release. "The film is the work of Gints' exceptional talent and the fantastic teams from the three countries who joined forces."
The film is also one of the contenders for the Oscars. ‘Flow’ is Latvia's official entry in the best non-English language film category, where it also has a chance to win the award for best animated film.
The film will be released in Belgian cinemas on 15 January.
