The French-speaking film festival of Angoulême, France, largely rewarded Sunday ‘The Sixth Child’, the first film by Léopold Legrand, which won four prizes. ‘Le Bleu du Caftan’ by Moroccan Maryam Touzani is the other big winner.
‘The Sixth Child’, which questions the deep desire for motherhood, notably won the prizes for the screenplay and the best actress, awarded ex aequo to the actresses Sara Giraudeau and Judith Chemla, according to the prize list unveiled on Sunday.
The film, an adaptation by French director Léopold Legrand and Catherine Paillé of the novel ‘Crying Rivers’ by Alain Jaspard, also won the Valois music prize (Louis Sclavis) and the Valois du public.
Among the 10 films in competition, including seven by female directors, ‘Le Bleu du Caftan’ is the other winner of the festival, very marked this year by societal issues. This aesthetically controlled film won the Valois for directing and for actor, awarded to Saleh Bakri.
‘Les Pires’ rewarded once more
The actor embodies the character of Halim who, with his wife Mina (Lubna Azabal), has always lived with the secret of his homosexuality, until the arrival of an apprentice in their traditional kaftan shop upsets this balance.
First feature film by Quebecer Geneviève Albert, ‘Noémie dit oui’, on the phenomenon of teenage prostitution in Canada, received the Valois from French-speaking students, with a special mention for actress Kelly Depeault.
The Valois ‘René Laloux’ (best animated short film), was awarded to ‘Tears of the Seine’, directed by eight students from the Pôle 3D school on the massacre of Algerian demonstrators on the night of October 17, 1961 by the police in Paris.
As for the Valois de Diamant, it was awarded to ‘Les Pires’ by French women Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, a film which has already won the ‘Un certain regard’ prize at Cannes this year.
The public came en masse to the Angoulême festival, with 52,000 people in the halls according to official figures, or 15,000 more people compared to 2021.
/ATS
