Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth’s The Fifth Season grabbed two awards at the Venice International Film Festival (29 August-8 September). The film received both the Arca CinemaGiovani Award: “Best movie in Venice 69” and the Green Drop Award. Next stop is Toronto, where The Fifth Season is running in the Wavelenghts Section.
The Green Drop Award is awarded to the film which best interprets the themes of ecology and sustainable development while the Arca Cinemagiovani, while “Best movie in Venice 69” is awarded by a special jury of 70 young people aged from 18 to 26 years old, from Italy, France and Tunisia.
In The Fifth Season, a mysterious calamity strikes as spring refuses to come and the cycle of nature is overturned. Alice, Thomas and Octave, three children in a village deep in the Ardennes forest, struggle to make sense of a world that is collapsing around them. Sharing the main roles are Sam Louwyck, Aurélia Poirier, Django Schrevens, Gill Vancompernolle and Peter Van den Begin. Hans Bruch Jr is the director of photography, while Michel Schöpping is responsible for the film’s original score.
Flemish co-producer for The Fifth Season is Bo Films. The film is supported by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF). Berlin-based Films Boutique announced that it is handling international sales on the film, while Imagine Film confirmed that it is to release The Fifth Season in Belgium on 23 January 2013.