EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY CRITICS’ AWARD 2008 – Prix FIPRESCI
goes to Abdellatif Kechiche for LA GRAINE ET LE MULET (The Secret of the Grain / Couscous)

As FIPRESCI’s Hassouna Mansouri, Director of the Department for African Affairs, explains, “giving this year’s prize to Abdellatif Kechiche, the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) recognises an author in the purest and simplest meaning of the word. The award not only pays tribute to all those filmmakers who are often marginalised because of their origins, but above all recognises the talent of those who are committed to a different and independent cinema; those who stand against the war machines and their grip on the industry of the image. With low-budget films - which are nonetheless difficult to finance - Kechiche is involved in a struggle which brings together classic texts like those of Marivaux with the young ‘beurs’ of Nice, the city where he grew up.”
The award will be presented during the 21st European Film Awards Ceremony on 6 December in Copenhagen.