© Reuters
The Cannes Film Festival’s 75th Anniversary Prize is awarded to the Dardenne brothers for Tori and Lokita.
The brothers are not a newcomer to the film festival. Dardennes previously won the Grand Prix – Silver Medal – with Le gamin au vélo (2011) and the Best Screenplay award with Le silence de Lorna (2008).
They did not think of a third victory in advance. “We don’t think about it. Most of all the film was presented in Cannes competition. This ensures that it is in the brightest spotlight. If the response is great, the film will find an audience. If the reaction is less good, it becomes more difficult. But even that Then, life goes on.”
The film tells a touching story of life in the shadow of illegality and follows two young African refugees, teenager Lukita and boy Toure, who end up in Belgium.
When we were preparing our film in January 2021, a baker from Besançon went on a 12-day hunger strike to prevent a student from Guinea from being deported from France. “We dedicate our film to this man,” Luke Darden said on Saturday.
Belgian Festival
Belgians were strongly represented at Cannes this year. Lukas Dhont also had a chance to win a Golden Palm with Close and Otto montagne by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen. Adel Elaraby and Bilal Falah presented their new film Rebel, and French film Les Pires with actor Johan Heldenbergh already won an Un Certain Regard treatment on Friday.
© Reuters
