Magritte Awards: Un monde and La vie démente top winners at Belgian film ceremony

The Magritte Awards 2022 rewarded two first feature films at its 11th awards ceremony in Brussels on Saturday. Un monde (Playground) by Laura Wandel and Raphaël Balboni and Ann Sirot’s La vie démente (Madly in Life) each won prizes in seven categories.

Belgian documentary filmmaker Thierry Michel chaired the awards that focus on French-language films. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, films from 2020 and 2021 were included in the nominations.

A total of 22 awards were presented, in addition to the Magritte’s award of honour presented posthumously to Belgian director Marion Hânsel, who died in 2020.

School drama Playground by Brussels director Laura Wandel was awarded best film and director while Laura Verlinden won best supporting actress. Its child actors Maya Vanderbeque and Günter Duret received best female and male rising stars. The drama about school bullying also won best sound and editing.

Playground has been showered with awards since its premiere at Cannes in 2021. It was also Belgium’s Oscar best international film entry this year, but despite inclusion on the longlist, it didn’t make the final cut.

Raphaël Balboni and Ann Sirot’s family drama Une vie démente won best film, screenplay, actress, actor, supporting actor (Gilles Remiche), production design and costumes. Starring Jo Deseure and Jean Le Peltier, it’s a moving drama about a family coping with dementia.

Best Flemish production went to Teodora Ana Mihai’s Mexico-set La Civil, which also debuted in Cannes. It’s based on the true story of a mother who fearlessly pursued the people who kidnapped her daughter. Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane was rewarded in the best international co-production category, also winning best cinematography for Ruben Impens.

In the original music category, composer and actor Vincent Cahay was awarded for his score in Fabrice Du Welz’s film Adoration. Xavier Seron’s Sprötch won best short fiction and On est pas près d’être des super héros took best short animation. The best short documentary went to Mother’s by Hippolyte Leibovici and Petit Samedi by Paloma Sermon-Dai won best documentary.

Photo: Les Magrittes du Cinéma © L Geerts