Belgian films “Keeper” by Guillaume Senez and “Insoumise” by Jawad Rhalib received the Special Jury prize during the 15th Marrakech International Film Festival (FILM). This was along with the 13 other films in the competition. The prizes were announced by Brussels Wallonia Images on Saturday evening. The jury president, Francis Ford Coppola, and the jury wanted to pay tribute to all the films taking part. The competition took place in a very international context.
“Keeper” won an award thanks to young actress Galatea Bellugi, who got Best actress. The film had already won a prize at Turin (Best film), Locarno (Label Europa Cinema), Hamburg (Young Talent Award) Warsaw (special award), Biel (Young Jury Prize) and Namur (International Critic award). This film tells the story of Maxime (Kacey Mottet-Klein) and Mélanie (Galatea Bellugi), 15, just out of childhood. One day, she finds out she’s pregnant, and Maxime wants to keep the baby at any cost.
“Insoumise” by Jawad Rhalib, was shown for the first time at the Festival. Coproduced between Morocco and Belgium, it tells the story of Laila, a young unemployed Moroccan computer programmer. She leaves her country for seasonal work in Belgium. The young woman ends up on a small family farm. Very fast, Laila becomes disenchanted when she discovers the profoundly unjust system that governs the seasonal contracts. Little by little, her feeing of revolt contaminates her entourage and the family business is turned upside down.
“Keeper” and “Insoumise” were produced in Belgium, by Iota Production, with the help of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation’s Cinema and Audio-visual Centre. “Keeper” was distributed in Belgium by Cinéart, and will be in cinemas on the 9th of March 2016. There is not yet a date for “Insoumise”.
The film “Very Big Shot” by Lebanese director Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya won the “Golden Star” for Best Film. The Lebanon-Qatar production is a comedy that tells the story of the life of two dealer brothers that want to get back on the right track but take one last job.
(Source: Belga)
