Dura Lex

Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s VAF Wildcard-winning short Brothers grabbed the First Prize at this year’s fourth edition of the Baghdad International Film Festival (3-7 October). The third prize also went to a Flemish short: Anke Blondé’s Dura Lex.

Brothers (pictured on the right) tells the tragic story of two young men of the same age that follow opposite paths in their lives, which cross in the end. The fest’s International Jury considered it ‘a film with a well-written script and a perfect dramatic structure, with strong characters, that is emotionally touching and full of tension.’

Anke Blondé’s short film Dura Lex has won the European New Talent Award at the Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival (18-23 September) in Bristol, UK. After the recent awards in Palm Springs, this is the third international award forDura Lex. Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels also had reason to celebrate as their animated short, Oh Willy, grabbed the Animated Grand Prix at Encounters.

The jury praised Dura Lex for its ‘refreshing perspective on the theme of illegal immigration’. The director’s ‘sense of character and timing’ and the film’s ‘darkly comic undertones’ were also high on the jury’s list of reasons to award the film. The award is sponsored by the University of the West of England and comes with a grant of €1,000.

Anke Blondé’s short film Dura Lex continues to tour the world with another two selections in Bristol (UK) and in the ancient city of Luxor (Egypt). The film has already screened at numerous festivals and won awards at short film festivals in Palm Springs and Leuven.

At the Bristol Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival (18-23 September) Dura Lex will screen in the Brief Encounters competition for the best live action short films from all over the world. Dura Lex deals with the subject of illegal immigration through the character of single mother Kristi who gets a visit from two police detectives who are looking for an illegal refugee. Kristi finds herself faced with a difficult decision.

Tom Heene’s Welcome Home, which only recently received an invitation to Venice, and Patrice Toye’s Little Black Spiders are the Flemish eye-catchers at the 36th World Film Festival in Montreal (23 August-3 September). Heene’s debut feature will be screening in the First Films World Competition, while Toye’s film will be celebrating its world premiere in the prestigious Focus on World Cinema section. In total, no less than 10 Flemish (co)productions were confirmed for the Canadian fest’s line-up.

With selections for both Montreal and the International Critics’ Week in Venice, filmmaker Tom Heene has pulled off an impressive feat. In Montreal’s First Films World CompetitionWelcome Home is in the running for one of three Zenith Awards. Producer of Welcome Home is Tomas Leyers for Minds Meet. The Brussels-based production company even has a second film screening in Montreal: minority co-production The World Belongs to Us by director Stephan Streker was confirmed for the Focus on World Cinema programme.

Anke Blondé’s Dura Lex and Michael Palmaers’s Nuru won Best Live Action Short and Best Animation respectively at the Palm Springs International Shortfest (19-25 June). Both films received $2,000 in cash and automatically qualified for Academy Awards consideration.

Blondé’s Dura Lex, which was also named runner-up in the Bridging the Borders category, enjoyed its North American premiere in Palm Springs. The short deals with the subject of illegal immigration through the character of a young mother who receives an unexpected visit from a pair of detectives.