Belgium’s Magritte Awards: ‘Our Struggles’ Takes Top Prize

Guillaume Senez’s single-dad drama Our Struggles took the top prize at Belgium’s Magritte Awards, which were handed out Saturday night in Brussels, with a win in the best film category.

The Cannes Critics’ Week entry, which is also nominated for a handful of French Cesar Awards, also won the best director prize for Senez and brought home trophies for best supporting actress (Lucie Debay) and best new actress (Lena Girard Voss).

Netflix’s Girl, Lukas Dhont’s transgender dancer drama, which was nominated for a Golden Globe and was Belgium’s official Oscar submission, had led the Magritte nominations with nine but missed out on a mention in the best film category. Instead it was in the running for best Flemish film, winning the prize in that category and best screenplay honors for Dhont and Angelo Tijssen, as well as the best actor prize for star Victor Polster.

Also winning three prizes was the neo-Western Let the Corpses Tan, which won in the technical categories for its stellar shoot-’em-up in the South of France scenery and sound.

Twenty years in the making, Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote finally came to life onscreen with a splashy premiere in Cannes, and the pic won the Magritte for best foreign film, qualifying as a co-production from Belgium. It beat out Rupert Everett’s directorial debut The Happy Prince and Armando Iannucci’s BAFTA-nominated satire The Death of Stalin.

Jean Libon and Yves Hinant’s Cesar-nominated So Help Me God won in the documentary category. It follows judge Anne Gurwez on her daily work through the court system and has caused controversy for showing cracks in the system. The president of the Belgian court had attempted to block Gurwez from attending the ceremony, but the Brussels-based judge walked the blue carpet despite the ban.

The complete list of winners is below.

BEST FILM
Our Struggles by Guillaume Senez

BEST FIRST FILM
Bitter Flowers by Olivier Meys

BEST DIRECTOR
Guillaume Senez for Our Struggles

BEST FLEMISH FILM
Girl by Lukas Dhont

BEST CO-PRODUCED FOREIGN FILM
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote by Terry Gilliam

BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT OR ADAPTATION
Girl, by Lukas Dhont and Angelo Tijssens

BEST ACTRESS
Lubna Azabal for Above the Law

BEST ACTOR
Victor Polster for Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lucie Debay for Our Battles

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Arieh Worthalter for Girl

BEST NEW ACTRESS
Lena Girard Voss for Our Battles

BEST NEW ACTOR
Thomas Mustin for The Royal Exchange

BEST IMAGE (CINEMATOGRAPHY)
Manu Dacoss for Let the Corpses Tan

BEST SOUND
Yves Bemelmans for Let the Corpses Tan

BEST SET DESIGN
Alina Santos for Let the Corpses Tan

BEST COSTUMES
Nathalie Leborgne for Bye Bye Germany

BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
Simon Fransquet for When Arabs Danced

BEST EDITING
Julie Brenta for Our Battles

BEST SHORT FILM
Icare by Nicolas Boucart

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
La bague au doigt by Gerlando Infuso

BEST DOCUMENTARY
So Help Me God by Jean Libon & Yves Hinant