Magritte Awards

A Magritte Award (French: Magritte du cinéma) is an accolade presented by the Académie André Delvaux of Belgium to recognize cinematic achievement in the film industry. Modelled after the French César Award, the formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is one of the most prominent award ceremonies in Belgium. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette. The awards, first presented in 2011, are considered the Belgian equivalent of the Academy Awards in the United States.

Magritte Award
Current: 12th Magritte Awards
Awarded forExcellence in cinematic achievements
CountryBelgium
Presented byAcadémie André Delvaux
First awarded2011
Websitelesmagritteducinema.com

Historically given during the first quarter of the new year, the awards honor achievements for cinematic accomplishments for the preceding year. The 12th Magritte Awards ceremony was held on 4 March 2023 at the Théâtre National, in the historic site of Marais-Jacqmain, Brussels.

History

Founded in 2010, the Académie André Delvaux was established at the request of the Francophone Film Producers Association (UPFF) and Pro Spère, to unite the five branches of the film industry, including actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers.[1] The Académie aims to recognize excellence in Belgian cinematic achievements in order to have a Belgian counterpart to the César Awards of France. After the cancellation of the Joseph Plateau Awards ceremony, which was absorbed into the Film Fest Ghent in 2007, a national film award was missing in Belgium. This led the Académie André Delvaux to establish the Magritte Award. An accolade for artistic and technical merit in the Flemish film industry was launched a year earlier as part of the Ostend Film Festival and called Ensor Award.[2]

The name of the award comes from the painter René Magritte. Charly Herscovici, who created the Magritte Foundation, allowed the Académie to use the name of the artist.[3] The awarding statuette was created by designer and sculptor Xavier Lust, who drew inspiration from a poster entitled Moments inoubliables du cinema created by René Magritte in 1958 for a film festival.[4] The 1st Magritte Awards ceremony took place on 5 February 2011 at the Square Meeting Centre in Brussels. During the ceremony, the Académie André Delvaux presented Magritte Awards in twenty categories. Film director Jaco Van Dormael presided the ceremony, while actress Helena Noguerra hosted the evening.[5] The ceremony, televised in Belgium by BeTV, was produced by José Bouquiaux and directed by Vincent J. Gustin.[6]

At the 2nd ceremony, held on 4 February 2012, the Magritte Award for Best Film in Coproduction was split in Best Foreign Film in Coproduction and Best Flemish Film in Coproduction.[7] The latter was renamed Best Flemish Film in 2015.[8] An Audience Award was presented to a Belgian film personality in 2011 and 2012, before being replaced by Best First Feature Film in 2013; its winner, however, was first announced during the 66th Cannes Film Festival, three months after the Magritte Awards ceremony.[9][10] In 2016, it became a merit category, with the audience award being finally retired. The same year, Best Short Film was split in Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film.[11] The 8th ceremony was the first to be aired on La Deux, after RTBF took over broadcast rights from BeTV.[12]

Rules and voting

The Académie André Delvaux, a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 800 as of 2015.[13] It is divided into different branches, with each representing a different discipline in film production. All members must be invited to join by the Board of Directors. Membership eligibility may be achieved by a competitive nomination or a member may submit a name based on other significant contribution to the field of motion pictures. To be eligible for nomination, a film must be a Belgian production and open in the previous calendar year (from October 16 of the previous calendar year to October 15 of the following year) in Belgium and play for seven consecutive days.[14]

In December, the Académie reveals the list of eligible releases; a DVD set with the catalog of films is also sent to the electors.[15] Voters use an instant run-off voting ballot, with potential nominees rewarded in the single transferable vote tally for having strong supporters who rank them first. The winners are then determined by a second round of voting. All members are allowed to vote in most categories, except for the Honorary Magritte Award, whose recipients are determined by the Board of Directors of the Académie.[14] After the nominations are revealed, in January, special screenings of the nominated films are shown.[16]

Categories
Current awards
Retired awards

Awards ceremonies

The following is a listing of all Magritte Awards ceremonies.

Ceremony Date Best Film winner President(s) Host Venue
1st Magritte Awards5 February 2011Mr. NobodyJaco Van DormaelHelena NoguerraSquare
2nd Magritte Awards4 February 2012The GiantsBertrand Tavernier
3rd Magritte Awards2 February 2013Our ChildrenYolande MoreauFabrizio Rongione
4th Magritte Awards1 February 2014Ernest & CelestineÉmilie Dequenne
5th Magritte Awards7 February 2015Two Days, One NightFrançois DamiensCharlie Dupont
6th Magritte Awards6 February 2016The Brand New TestamentMarie Gillain
7th Magritte Awards4 February 2017The First, the LastVirginie EfiraAnne-Pascale Clairembourg
8th Magritte Awards3 February 2018InsyriatedNatacha RégnierFabrizio Rongione
9th Magritte Awards2 February 2019Our StrugglesVincent Patar and Stéphane AubierAlex Vizorek
10th Magritte Awards1 February 2020Mothers' InstinctPascal DuquenneKody
11th Magritte Awards12 February 2022Madly in LifeThierry MichelAchille Ridolfi
12th Magritte Awards4 March 2023 Nobody Has to KnowLubna AzabalPatrick RidremontThéâtre National

See also

References
  1. Denis, Fernand (October 13, 2010). "André Delvaux, l'œuvre au jour". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  2. Bradfer, Fabienne (February 4, 2015). "Revivez la cérémonie des Magritte du cinéma belge en direct commenté". Le Soir (in French). Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  3. De Clercq, Charles (January 23, 2015). "Les Magritte du Cinéma, le 7 février 2015 au Square". Cinecure (in French). Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  4. Bradfer, Fabienne (January 14, 2011). "Les Magritte du cinéma à l'image des César". Le Soir (in French). Archived from the original on January 24, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  5. "Magritte du cinéma: les nominés sont connus". L'Avenir (in French). January 14, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  6. "Une grande salle et un petit écran" (in French). Académie André Delvaux. February 4, 2011. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  7. "Les Magritte du cinéma s'installent". La Libre Belgique (in French). November 26, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  8. "Magritte: Pluie de nominations pour les Dardenne et Lucas Belvaux". La Libre Belgique (in French). January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  9. "Lancement d'un nouveau Magritte : Le Magritte du Premier Film 2013". Ciné Télé Revue (in French). March 28, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  10. "Le Magritte du Premier film". Cinevox (in French). May 20, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  11. Lecocq, Jean-Jacques (January 12, 2016). "'Le Tout Nouveau Testament' domine les nominations des Magritte". Ciné Télé Revue (in French). Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  12. Belga (July 19, 2017). "La RTBF va produire les Magritte du cinéma". L'Avenir (in French). Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  13. ""Deux jours, une nuit" : les Dardenne couronnés aux Magritte du cinéma belge". Challenges (in French). February 9, 2015. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  14. "Règlement des Magritte du Cinéma" (in French). Académie André Delvaux. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  15. "Magritte du cinéma: silence, on vote". Cinevox (in French). December 10, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  16. "Programmation spéciale Magritte sur La Trois" (in French). RTBF. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
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