'Small Things Like These’-actress Emily Watson receives Joseph Plateau Honorary Award
With female forces leading the way, Small Things Like These has officially opened the 51st edition of Film Fest Gent. Alongside Belgian director Tim Mielants, award-winning actress Emily Watson was present to introduce to the public this intimate drama about a coal merchant whose peaceful existence is disrupted when he discovers a secret in the local convent. The role of mother superior Mary is performed by the British actress, who manages to display the complexity of her character.
Tonight, during the Belgian premiere of the film, Watson was awarded a Joseph Plateau Honorary Award for her impressive performance in Mielants' third feature film and her acting career as a whole.
Hearing this tribute, it all sounds like I had a plan, but it was a big adventure. I'm very proud to be here with Tim Mielants. He's an incredible filmmaker and I feel honoured.
Open horizon
The past three decades, Watson has impressed both fans and critics with her performances in various film, television and stage productions. Her first role on the big screen – the impenetrable Bess in Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves – marked an immediate breakthrough and resulted in a first Academy Award nomination. In the following years, she performed in influential films like Anand Tucker’s Hilary and Jackie, Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York.
Keeping her artistic horizons open, Watson acted in several theatre productions, likeTwelfth Night and Uncle Vanya, and television series like Little Women and Chernobyl. For her role in this nuclear historical drama, she received Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations, among others. Flourishing in various disciplines, Watson now plays a key role in the film industry.
Joseph Plateau Honorary Award
With her Joseph Plateau Honorary Award, Watson joins Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Terence Davies and Céline Sciamma, among others, on the long list of influential filmmakers who received the award for their significant contributions to the art of filmmaking. The award itself is a replica of professor Joseph Plateau's phenakistoscope, the device he designed to illustrate his theory of the persistence of vision, which became the basic principle behind the idea of 'moving images'.
Later this week, on Thursday night 10 Oct., the Brussels based, Palestinian filmmaker Michel Khleifi will also receive a Joseph Plateau Honorary Award.
