Mosel wine at Benelux festival

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Willy
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Mosel wine at Benelux festival

Post by Willy »

Annelies from Holland overall winner
Maybe it's interesting to know the results of the Benelux Film Festival that took place last week. The ceremony was in the little town of Clervaux in Luxembourg on Sunday afternoon. The overall winner is ... Annelies Heesakkers from the Netherlands. I think she must be a newcomer because I have not seen her name before. It's a pity that her film was not screened at the ceremony, but on the other hand I should have stayed in Luxembourg for four days in order to see all the films.

"Rex" first prize in category "fiction films"
In the category "Fiction films" the Dutchman Berry Van der Vorst was the winner with "Rex". Very controversial, but it's better not to stir up things. I asked one of the judges, who's very good at evaluating films, if he knew why Berry had chosen the title "Rex". He didn't know. In my opinion the title of the film is very essential. I congratulated Berry and we talked about BIAFF in Chesterfield. He enjoyed the festival in England very much. As you know he was one of the diamond award winners. In Luxembourg he also won the award for "Best photography". Second in "fiction films" was Daniel Mannelli from the French speaking part of Belgium. The title of his film : "Merry Christmas". I don't think that Daniel has already participated in BIAFF or Guernsey with that film. As you know he has already been very successful in British film festivals.

There were three categories : "fiction films", "Information films" and "Other films" (animation, etc...)
The first prize in the category "Information films" was for the Dutchman René Roeken. He's one of my friends. It's a film about animals in Madagascar. The title of his film : "Het Land van de Lemuren". René is one of my Dutch friends who's taken part in the Lily festival twice or three times.

Luxembourg very successful
Top awards in three categories + overall winner : The Netherlands 3, Luxembourg 4 and Belgium (French-speaking part) 3. No Flemish films.
Special awards : The Netherlands 1, Luxemburg 4, Belgium (French speaking part) 1, Belgium (Dutch speaking part) 6.
These results show that the Luxemburg filmmakers have made excellent films. Third prize in the category "Information films" for instance was for Willy Lang. An excellent filmmaker. I think that his name has already appeared in at least one of the BIAFF-proclamation lists.

The Dutchman Vlamdimir Muirtin was one of the judges and so was Guido Haesen, the very kind Luxembourg filmmaker who attends BIAFF and the Guernsey Lily very often. I talked to Guido and his evaluation was correct.

I wept crocodile tears
I didn't win any award. I wept crocodile tears for hours and hours. The organisers didn't have enough floor-cloths and buckets. Everybody wanted to cheer me up. To be honest : I expected it because of several reasons. The acting in my film for instance is horrible, etc... , but many friends told me that they had enjoyed my film after having seen it a hundred times. That's the best compliment.

Wheel-chairs
Some of my friends stayed in Luxembourg for some days. They had to go back home empty-handed. They seemed to be very disappointed. I know they have worked very hard to have an extraordinary film. The theme, however, is a bit controversial and that's very risky. It is a co-production and one of them said : "You must make films about people in wheel-chairs to be very successful." In some way it revealed his bitter disappointment. These are typical emotions after a festival. I had hoped to encourage both filmmakers to enter their films for BIAFF and the Lily, but I have already given it up.

I felt tipsy after the Mosel-wine
I myself enjoyed the day-trip to Luxembourg very much, also thanks to the glorious sunshine. The venue was a castle on top of a hill overlooking the little town of Clervaux. Before going to the ceremony we had lunch in a restaurant in open air. After the ceremony we drank some Mosel wine. I became more and more talkative. I had to ask my friend Werner to drive my car... Before leaving Guido said something like "Hast Ye Back !" I'll be back next time.
Willy Van der Linden
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Willy
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Re: Mosel wine at Benelux festival

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Winner dropped trophy !
I have forgotten to tell you an anecdote. Something that really happened in Clervaux. One of the Luxembourg organisers had created beautiful trophies. These were the top-awards just like the diamond awards at BIAFF. The man who was sitting next to me, Gaston Slaets, won two of them for his wonderful animation films. I congratulated him and he was very proud. He said : "They're nice trophies, aren't they ? " Some minutes later we heard a bang in the festivity hall ! Gaston Slaets had dropped one of them ! It was broken. I tried to console him by saying : "There are worse things in life, my friend !". He laughed and he said that he still had one. One minute later one of the organisers said that he still had a spare copy. In Dutch there is an expression that says : "Fragments bring good luck". I don't think it exists in the English language. My dictionary says : "No good crying over spilt milk !". Obviously Gaston was one of the heroes of the festival.
Willy Van der Linden
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Dave Watterson
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Re: Mosel wine at Benelux festival

Post by Dave Watterson »

I wish I had enough Dutch to be able to attend and enjoy the Benelux Festival. It sounds super. It always produces a great many excellent movies - some of which we see at other festivals. We know the Luxemburgers can organise a superb festival. They hosted UNICA in 2002 and are due to do it again in 2011. Guido and Suzie are always welcome visitors at our events in Britain.

I hope we will see some of the films at Guernsey and BIAFF 2010. Daniel Manelli's La Trace (Footprints) did well at BIAFF and Guernsey in 2007. I don't think Willy Lang has had anything in BIAFF, though we have seen his work at the Festival of Nations and UNICA.

I loved the "Wheelchairs" comments. It is the sort of thing you hear after the Oscar ceremonies each year. It is true that controversial films can face problems ... but the point is they must be both controversial and very good to win prizes.

As for dropping trophies ... when I ran awards ceremonies for the Federation of Film Societies I took to using BluTak and Sellotape to ensure that the lids of cups did not fall off. If a cup was loose on its plinth I kept the plinth backstage otherwise it was sure to be dropped. Receiving a major prize is a BIG event for anyone and at the end of a tiring festival people can be very nervous. Often they get loaded up with trophy, certificate, prize and have to shake hands too! I do like the Dutch expression: "Fragments bring good luck". Given my own clumsiness I want to adopt that as a motto.

Why are we talking about "foreign festivals" here?


I believe it is important to recognise that all over the world, people are making films for the love of doing so. If we can go to some of those events, we can see films and styles we might otherwise never come across. Some of the films we see are better and some worse than work we have at our own events. Most is of a very similar standard. Film can cross more language and national boundaries than many mediums. Sometimes it can succeed without a word ... as with Aus Der Seele (From the Soul) which won at BIAFF this year.

It is also good to remind ourselves that "our Willy" is deeply involved in amateur film in his own country and not just in Britain. He has become so much admired and loved over here that we sometimes think we have adopted him and that he is British. He is proof that not all foreigners are bad! And in today's world sometimes that is not just a joke, but a serious need. Our hobby is worldwide and through it we can have friends in many, many lands, whether we can travel to overseas festivals or not.

Dave
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