NOBODY KNOWS wins the 31st Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent

Once again, this 31^st edition was an outstanding event, graced by the presence of Lord Richard Attenborough, Jonathan Pryce, Romain Duris and many other celebrities. On a sadder note, in a series of moving tributes, the Festival also honoured the great composers Elmer Bernstein, Michael Kamen, David Raksin and Jerry Goldsmith, who passed away recently.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />

During the 31st edition of the Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent, the film Nobody Knows (Daremo Shiranai) by Japanese filmmaker Kore-Eda Hirokazu, who has already achieved international recognition with After Life, was awarded the Grand Prix for Best Film, which carries an award of 25,000 € towards distribution. The international jury announced its decision on Saturday, October 16 during a ceremony which took place at the Capitole prior to the screening of Lieven Debrauwer's second full-length feature film Confituur.

The Georges Delerue Award for Best Music was awarded to Miguel Angel Miranda and José Miguel Tobar for the music of Andres Wood's Machuca, a Chilean-Spanish-French co-production. This prize carries an award of 15,000 € intended to promote distribution.

The Sabam Award for Best Screenplay (12,500 € distribution award) was given to Suha Arraf and Eran Riklis for the screenplay of The Syrian Bride by Eran Riklis.

Atiq Rahimi, the director of the Afghan film Earth and Ashes, received the Robert Wise Award for Best Director (5,000 € distribution award).

Actor Kevin Bacon received a special citation from the jury for his portrayal of child molester Walter in Nicole Kassell's film The Woodsman.

In addition to the above, a number of other prizes were also awarded during the ceremony. The Prix UIP Ghent 2004 was awarded to Little Terrorist by Ashvin Kumar. This prize, with a value of 2,000 €, also includes a nomination for the UIP Prize at the European Film Awards, with a value of 10,000 €. The Johnnie Walker Keep Walking Award for Best Belgian Short was awarded to Cologne, a movie by Kaat Beels.

The Mine Xplore Award went to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, while the Canvas Audience Award went to La Finestra di Fronte by the Turkish director Ferzan Ozpetek.

The Fnac Audience Award was awarded to The Syrian Bride by Eran Riklis. Which makes the total award money (a distribution grant) for this film € 17,500 in cash (€ 5,000 FNAC Audience Award + 12,500 of the SABAM Award for Best Screenplay)!

New this year was the National Lottery Audience Award for Best Documentary. Another cash distribution grant of € 2,000 which went to Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.

The 31st edition of the Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent will be remembered among other things for the presence of Lord Richard Attenborough, a true legend of world cinema and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In addition, the recent losses of a number of grand masters of film music, all dear friends of the Festival, were marked by a series of particularly magnificent and moving musical tributes. Once again, this 31st edition of the Festival proves the absolute truth of Jeanne Moreau's quote of last year: 'The box office and the star system are not important here. Everybody mixes with the public, there is a real camaraderie between the directors, the composers. This type of festival makes it possible to gain access to important markets, such as here in Flanders, with something other than American films.' And who would dare contradict this Grande Dame of world cinema?

The next edition will take place from October 11 - 22, 2005.