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CINÉMAMED 2019 Awards

The End of Love scoops the Grand Jury Prize at the Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival

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- The second feature by Israeli director Keren Ben Rafael, starring Judith Chemla and Arieh Worthalter, bewitched the jury, chaired by Gérard Darmon

The End of Love scoops the Grand Jury Prize at the Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival
Director Keren Ben Rafael and actor Arieh Worthalter at the Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival (© Vincent Alsteens/Cinémamed)

The 19th Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival wrapped this weekend with The End of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the second feature by Keren Ben Rafael, taking home the Grand Jury Prize. The jury, chaired by French thesp Gérard Darmon, and including Belgian filmmakers Géraldine Doignon and Frédéric Fonteyne, French author Hadrien Raccah and Belgian journalist Hadja Labib, underlined the intelligence of the directing and the high quality of the acting in the film, whose simple narrative is expressed in a very modern way. The movie homes in on the gradual disintegration of a couple. Julia and Yuval live in Paris and have just had a child together. When Yuval decides to go back to Israel to renew his visa, the couple structure their days around their Skype calls. But little by little, their relationship starts eroding.

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The jury also handed out two Special Prizes to A Tale of Three Sisters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
interview: Emin Alper
film profile
]
by Turkey’s Emin Alper and The Traitor [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
film profile
]
by Italy’s Marco Bellocchio.

A Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehdi M Barsaoui and Sami B…
film profile
]
, the feature debut by Tunisian filmmaker Mehdi M Barsaoui, which was also presented in competition, took home no fewer than three trophies: the Youth Jury Award, the Audience Award and the Cineuropa Prize. Propped up by the powerful performances of Sami Bouajila and Najla Ben Abdallah, the movie also follows the story of a couple in the process of being torn apart. Fares and Meriem spend many a happy day with their 11-year-old son, Aziz. During a stay in the south of Tunisia, a tragic event changes the course of their lives, and as a race against time begins, concealed truths begin to resurface.

Lastly, it is worth noting that the Francophone Award was conferred upon the moving debut film by Albania’s Florenc Papas, Open Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florenc Papas
film profile
]
, while the Critics’ Award was bestowed upon Stitches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miroslav Terzić
film profile
]
by Serbia’s Miroslav Terzic.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Grand Jury Prize
The End of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Keren Ben Rafael (France)

Special Jury Prize (ex æquo)
A Tale of Three Sisters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
interview: Emin Alper
film profile
]
- Emin Alper (Turkey/Germany/Netherlands/Greece)
The Traitor [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
film profile
]
- Marco Bellocchio (Italy/France/Brazil/Germany)

Youth Jury Award
A Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehdi M Barsaoui and Sami B…
film profile
]
- Mehdi M Barsaoui (Tunisia/France/Lebanon/Qatar)

Cineuropa Prize
A Son - Mehdi M Barsaoui

Audience Award
A Son - Mehdi M Barsaoui

Francophone Award
Open Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florenc Papas
film profile
]
- Florenc Papas (Albania/Kosovo/Macedonia/Italy)

Critics’ Award
Stitches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miroslav Terzić
film profile
]
- Miroslav Terzic (Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia)

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(Translated from French)

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