NOBODY KNOWS wins the 31st Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent


On Saturday October 16, 2004, the list of prizewinners for the 31st Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent was announced by Maurice Jarre, President of the Festival Jury. Once again, this 31st edition was an outstanding event, graced by the presence of Lord Richard Attenborough, Jonathan Pryce, David Carradine, Romain Duris and many other celebrities. On a sadder note, in a series of moving tributes, the Festival also honoured the great composers Elmer Bernstein, Michael Kamen, David Raksin and Jerry Goldsmith, who passed away recently.

During the 31st edition of the Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent, the film Nobody Knows (Daremo Shiranai) by Japanese filmmaker Kore-Eda Hirozaku, who has already achieved international recognition with After Life, was awarded the Grand Prize for Best Film, which carries an award of 25,000 € towards distribution. The international jury announced its decision on Saturday, October 16 during a ceremony which took place at the Capitole prior to the screening of Lieven Debrauwer’s second full-length feature film Confituur.

The Georges Delerue Prize for Best Music was awarded to Miguel Angel Miranda and José Miguel Tobar for the music of Andres Wood’s Machuca, a Chilean-Spanish-French co-production. This prize carries an award of 15,000 € intended to promote distribution.

The Sabam Prize for Best Screenplay (12,500 € distribution award) was given to Suha Arraf and Eran Riklis for the screenplay of The Syrian Bride by Eran Riklis.

Atiq Rahimi, the director of the Afghan film Earth and Ashes, received the Robert Wise Prize for Best Director (5,000 € distribution award).

Actor Kevin Bacon received a special citation from the jury for his portrayal of child molester Walter in Nicole Kassell’s film The Woodsman.

In addition to the above, a number of other prizes were also awarded during the ceremony. The UIP/Ghent Prize was awarded to Little Terrorist by Ashvin Kumar. This prize, with a value of 2,000 €, also includes a nomination for the UIP Prize at the European Film Awards, with a value of 10,000 €. The Prize of the Flemish Community for the Best Belgian Short Film was awarded to Cologne, a movie by Kaat Beels.

The Mine Xplore Prize went to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, while the Canvas Public Prize went to La Finestra di Fronte by the Turkish director Ferzan Ozpetek.

The 31st edition of the Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent will be remembered among other things for the presence of Lord Richard Attenborough, a true legend of world cinema and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In addition, the recent losses of a number of grand masters of film music, dear friends of the Festival all, were marked by a series of particularly magnificent and moving musical tributes. Once again, this 31st edition of the Festival proves the absolute truth of Jeanne Moreau’s quote of last year: "The box office and the star system are not important here. Everybody mixes with the public, there is a real camaraderie between the directors, the composers. This type of festival makes it possible to gain access to important markets, such as here in Flanders, with something other than American films." And who would dare contradict this Grande Dame of world cinema?

The next edition will take place from October 11 - 22, 2005.