Plenty of Belgian awards at the Cannes Festival

In the film Le Jeune Ahmed, the Dardenne brothers tackle the delicate issue of radicalisation. It tells the story of a pre-adolescent boy radicalised and used by his imam. The writers did not attempt to discover the reasons for his radicalisation, focusing instead on the young man's life in the deradicalisation centre. It is a sombre, often chilling film in which the Dardenne brothers tried to "get the measure of religious radicalisation". They won the award for Best Director. During the press conference, the Dardenne brothers stated that, "We have been dreaming about this award since the Coen brothers won it, because it is the heart of our work. We are very happy. It is not often we get to direct a boy with a sense of rhythm like that. He surprised us. It is almost as if he were the third director."

In another success for Belgian French-language cinema, the film Nuestras Madres won the Caméra d'Or, awarded to the best first film. This César Diaz fiction feature film depicts the civil war in Guatemala through testimonies collected by a young anthropologist working to identify the missing.

And lastly, the Grand Prix du Jury was awarded to Belgian co-production Atlantique, a feature film on illegal immigration and the despair of the women who remain in the country once the men have left.

Three fantastic awards for Belgian cinema.