Les Magritte du Cinéma, the Belgian equivalent film award to the French Césars, honors the film industry in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of the country. On Saturday, February 1, the tenth edition of the awards ceremony was held at The Square in Brussels. Presided by actor Pascal Duquenne, Olivier Masset-Depasse’s psychological thriller “Duelles” won nine awards out of ten nominations in nearly all major categories.

Flemish actress Veerle Baetens (photograph on top) won the best actress award; the international star who recently appeared opposite Guillaume Canet in “Au nom de la terre” (2019), previously earned many accolades for her role in Felix van Groeningen’s widely acclaimed “The Broken Circle Breakdown” (2012), including the European Film Award as best actress.

“Duelles” (a.k.a. “Mothers’ Instinct”) is a very effective and stylish suburban thriller, skillfully handled by Olivier Masset-Depasse, and is reminiscent of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, Brian De Palma, and Douglas Sirk. The film is set in the 1960s, with Veerle Baetens’ character of Alice becoming more and more suspicious of her next-door neighbor (played by Anne Coesens) and her intentions towards her son, until an unexpected tragedy unfolds and uproots the lives of the two women and their families.

“Duelles” (2019, trailer)

Other notable Magritte winners are director and screenwriter César Díaz for his film debut “Nuestras Madres” (a.k.a. “Our Mothers”), and Tim Mielants’ “De Patrick” won the Magritte for best Flemish film. Actor Kevin Janssens who played the title role in this film was nominated in the category as best actor but lost to Bouli Lanners (“C’est ça l’amour”).

“Le jeune Ahmed” (a.k.a. “Young Ahmed”), directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, had received eight nominations, and won in the categories actress in a supporting role with Myriem Akheddiou (she played the teacher), and the award of most promising actor which went to Idir Ben Addi for his portrayal of Ahmed.

Les Magritte du Cinéma was a main event in Brussels, attended by numerous actors, filmmakers, politicians, celebrities, and royals. Italian actress Monica Bellucci was bestowed the Honoray Magritte for her long and rewarding career in films.

To honor the talented craftsmen and women of Walloon cinema, many of them showed up on the blue carpet, including Alice on the Roof, Swann Arlaud, Stéphane Aubier, Jeanne Balibar, Baloji, Marta Bergman, Mya Bollaers, Dany Boon, Gérard Corbiau, Emilie Dequenne, Frédéric Fonteyne, Déborah François, Charlie Dupont, José Garcia, Stéphane Guillon, Kevin Janssens, Mary Jimenez, Khadja Nin, Amanda Lear, Daphné Leblond, Bénédicte Liénard, Guillaume Malandrin, Benoît Mariage, Thierry Michel, Laurent Micheli, Vincent Patar, Guillaume Senez, Stephan Streker, Jaco Van Dormael, Alex Vizorek, Wim Willaert and Marc Zinga.

Here’s an impression of the tenth Magritte event, followed by the complete list of nominees and winners.

The nominees and winners of Les Magritte du Cinéma

Film

“Duelles” directed by Olivier Masset-Depasse
“Le jeune Ahmed” directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
“Lola vers la mer” directed by Laurent Micheli
“Nuestras Madres” directed by César Díaz
“Seule à mon mariage” directed by Marta Bergman

Film debut

“Cavale” directed by Virginie Gourmel
“Escapada” directed by Sarah Hirtt
“Nuestras Madres” directed by César Díaz
“Pour vivre heureux” directed by Salima Sarah Glamine, Dimitri Linder
“Seule à mon mariage” directed by Marta Bergman

Flemish film

“Bastaard” directed by Mathieu Mortelmans
“Binti” directed by Frederike Migom
“Cleo” directed by Eva Cools
“De Patrick” directed by Tim Mielants

Foreign co-production

“Atlantique” directed by Mati Diop
“Les frères Sisters” directed by Jacques Audiard
“Sorry We Missed You” directed by Ken Loach
“Tel Aviv on Fire” directed by Sameh Zoabi

Actor in a leading role

Bouli Lanners (“C’est ça l’amour”)
Kevin Janssens (“De Patrick”)
Marc Zinga (“La misericorde de la jungle”)
Benoît Poelvoorde (“Le grand bain”)

Actress in a leading role

Veerle Baetens (“Duelles”)
Anne Coesens (“Duelles”)
Lubna Azabal (“Tel Aviv on fire”)
Cécile de France (“Un monde plus grand”)

Actor in a supporting role

Bouli Lanners (“De Patrick”)
Arieh Worthalter (“Duelles”)
Jonathan Zaccaï (“Le grand bain”)
Othmane Moumen (“Le jeune Ahmed”)

Actress in a supporting role

Yolande Moreau (“Cleo”)
Stéphane Crayencour (“Emma Peeters”)
Myriem Akheddiou (“Le jeune Ahmed”)
Claire Bodson (“Le jeune Ahmed”)

Most promising actor

Baloji (“Binti”)
François Neycken (“Escapada”)
Idir Ben Addi (“Le jeune Ahmed”)
Jérémy Senez (“Trois jours et une vie”)

Most promising actress

Bebel Baloji (“Binti”)
Raphaëlle Corbisier (“Escapada”)
Victoria Bluck (“Le jeune Ahmed”)
Mya Bollaers (“Lola vers la mer”)

Screenplay

Olivier Masset-Depasse, Giordano Gederlini (“Duelles”)
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne (“Le jeune Ahmed”)
Laurent Micheli (“Lola vers la mer”)
César Díaz (“Nuestras Madres”)

Cinematography

Hichame Alaouié (“Duelles”)
Benoît Debie (“Les frères Sisters”)
Virginie Surdej (“Nuestras Madres”)

Sound

Benoît De Clerck, Emmanuel de Boissieu, Michov Gillet (“Atlantique”)
Olivier Strye, Marc Bastien, Héléna Réveillère, Thomas Gauder (“Duelles”)
Emmanuel de Boissieu, Vincent Nouaille (“Nuestras Madres”)

Production design

Hubert Pouille, Pepijn Van Looy (“De Patrick”)
Catherine Cosme (“Lola vers la mer”)
Françoise Joset (“The Room”)

Costume design

Valérie Le Roy (“De Patrick”)
Gaëlle Fierens (“Emma Peeters”)
Claudine Tychon (“Seule à mon mariage”)

Original score

Fabien Leclercq [Le Motel] (“Binti”)
Dan Klein (“Cavale”)
Frédéric Vercheval (“Duelles”)
Raf Keunen (“Lola vers la mer”)

Editing

Damien Keyeux (“Duelles”)
Marie-Hélène Dozo (“Le jeune Ahmed”)
Julie Naas (“Lola vers la mer”)

Short (fiction)

“Bruxelles-Beyrouth” directed by Thibaut Wohlfahrt, Samir Youssef
“Detours” directed by Christopher Yates
“Lucia en el limbo” directed by Valentina Maurel
“Matriochkas” directed by Bérangère McNeese

Short (animation)

“Grand Loup & Petit Loup” directed by Rémi Durin
“La foire agricole” directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
“Nuit cherie” directed by Lia Bertels
“Sous le cartilage des côtes” directed by Bruno Tondeur

Documentary

“Bains publics” directed by Kita Bauchet
“By the Name of Tania” directed by Mary Jiménez, Bénédicte Liénard
“Mon nom est clitoris” directed by Daphné Leblond, Lisa Billuart Monet
“Sans frapper” directed by Alexe Poukine

Honorary Magritte

Monica Bellucci