MAN WITHOUT A PAST wins 29th Flanders Film Festival.

The Man Without A Past by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki is this year’s winner of the Grand Price of the Flemish Community for Best Film at the 29th Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent.

The International Jury, under chairmanship of Gerard Mortier, announced the winner Friday night at the Capitole theatre. The ceremony preceded the gala screening of the closing film, the European première of Shekhar Kapurs’ The Four Feathers.

The Grand Prize of the Flemish Community for Best Film – consisting of 12,350€ for the director and 12,350€ for the Belgian distributor, who releases the film in Flanders and Brussels – was won by Aki Kaurismäki’s The Man Without A Past.

The Georges Delerue Award for Best Music – of which 6,200€ goes to the composer and 6,200€ to the Belgian distributor of the winning film – went to Howard Shore for David Cronenberg’s Spider. Colette Delerue, widow of composer George Delerue who passed away exactly 10 years ago, presented the award.

The SABAM Writers Award for Best Script – consisting of 6,200€ going to the writer and 6,200€ to the Belgian distributor – was won by Rolf De Heer for The Tracker.

The Robert Wise Price for Best Director – consisting of 3,700€ in order to support the release of winning film – was awarded to Andreas Dresen for Halbe Treppe.

Additionally, the Internationale Jury decided to award Canadian director David Cronenberg a Special Jury Price for his complete work.

Traditionally, the International Jury presents the Price of the Flemish Community for the best Belgian Short. This year however, the jury decided not to award a winner.

During the awards ceremony, other winners chosen by different juries were also announced.

In the Short Film Competition for Flemish Students, the ACE Award for Best Flemish Student Short was won by Micha Pletinckx (KASK) for Schemering. This price consists of 2,480€ cash, and 7,400€ contributed by ACE for post-production facilities. Snapshot by Jakob Verbruggen received a special mention.

De Prix UIP/Ghent, presented for the third time on the festival, was won by La chanson-chanson by Xavier Diskeuve (België). This price consists of 2,000€, and additionally a nomination for the Prix UIP part of the European Film Awards 2003, consisting of 10,000€.

On Thursday, the StuBru Award was presented to German Director Sven Taddicken for Mein Bruder der Vampir (Getting My Brother Laid).

For the first time, the festival is donating a distribution premium to the winning film of the Fnac Audience Award. Stones by Spanish director Ramon Salazar won the award, closely followed by Amandla! and The Invisible. The award consists of 5,000€.

The 29th edition of the Flanders International Filmfestival – Ghent was very successful both in terms of admissions and the presence of (inter)national guests. The cast and crew of new Belgian features such as Hop and Science Fiction, Juliette Binoche, Jean Reno, Jeanne Moreau, Loes Luka, Hanna Schygulla and Blair Underwood were among the many guests attending the fest this year.

While the exact admission figure is still unknown, the total number of visitors has increased (+ 10% - 15%). The number of tickets sold on the internet has increased in the most spectacular way, the festival stated.

Next year’s 30th edition takes place from 7-18 October 2003.

>>> 300dpi photos of special events and guests can be downloaded from the Filmfestival website - www.filmfestival.be.