Blue Bird

All eyes are on Flanders at this year’s European Film Festival in Les Arcs (15-22 December), with the fest organising a Focus on Belgium. No less than eight Flemish features, as well as three shorts are part of the focus. Belgian Cinema from Flanders is also well represented at the Arc 1950 coproduction forum with three projects on the bill. Additionally, Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth’s The Fifth Season is screening in the International Competition in Les Arcs and therefore in the running for a Crystal Arrow.

For its fourth edition, the European Film Festival in Les Arcs chose to add a Focus on Belgium to its line-up. Chaired by Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer, who after Cannes’ International Critics’ Week is also artistically leading the Tribeca Film Festival, the selection committee in Les Arcs nominated eight Flemish feature films and three shorts.

Director Gust Van den Berghe’s Blue Bird has been nominated for the European Film Academy’s first Young Audience Award. The other two nominees are Boudewijn Koole’s Dutch feature Kauwboy and Sister from French director Ursula Meier, both Berlinale winners. On 10 June, all three films will be screened to a young audience, acting as a jury, in six European cities.

The Young Audience Award, initiated to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the European Film Academy (EFA), is intended to honour European features that appeal to young audiences.

Nicolas Provost’s feature debut The Invader and Gust Van den Berghe’s Blue Bird have been nominated for The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at Sweden’s Göteborg International Film Festival (27 January-6 February). The festival also selected Lotte Stoops’ Grande Hotel and Tom Fassaert’s An Angel in Doel in the Dokumentärt and Visionärer sections respectively.

A total of eight films from around the world were nominated for the prestigious award. With two Flemish filmmakers nominated out of eight, Belgian cinema from Flanders clearly demonstrated its vibrancy and talent. The Ingmar Berman International Debut Award is awarded to “a debutant who in his film treats an existential theme with a dynamic or experimental approach to the cinematic means of expression.”

Gust Van den Berghe’s Blue Bird grabbed yet another Special Mention in the category Best Feature Film, International Selection at the 40th edition of the Festival of New Cinema in Montreal (12-23 October). Only recently, Blue Bird also received a Special Mention for Best Film at the Ghent International Film Festival.

Blue Bird is a story about how one day in a child's life can change its world. One morning, Bafiokadié and his sister Téné, two African children, leave their village. The only thing on their mind is to find their lost blue bird before the day is over. But they will find much more along their way: they encounter their deceased grand-parents, they fight the soul of the forest and learn from the Chief of Pleasure. Everyone tells them a story about life and death. At the end of their long journey, the brother and sister enter the Kingdom of the Future and meet some yet-to-be born children. Delighted with this discovery, they eventually return home. For as we lose something we gain something.

Both Nicolas Provost’s The Invader and Gust Van den Berghe’s Blue Bird received special honours at the awards  ceremony of the 38th Ghent International Film Festival (11 – 22 October). The Invader grabbed the Georges Delerue Award for Best Music and Sound Design (Sacha & Evgueni Galperine en Senjan Jansen) while the film's lead actor Issaka Sawadogo received a Special Mention from the International Jury. The same Jury also gave a Special Mention to Gust Van den Berghe's Blue Bird in the category of Best Director.

The Invader recently  premièred at the Venice International Film Festival.  From there the film went on to the Toronto and San Sebastian International Film Festivals. Less than 24 hours prior the Fest's Award Ceremony, Provost received the Jo Röpcke Award for Indigenous Filmmaking Talent.