Duncan Cambell wins the International Competition a second time with 'Make It New John', after getting the award last year with 'Bernadette'. The winner of the National Competition is also not a stranger to Courtisane. 'Trickland' by Isabelle Tollenaere charmed and convinced the jury the most. This is also the second time Isabelle is the National Competition winner.

The Jury also decided to give a Special Mention to 'Journal and Remarks' by David Gatten and 'Les phosphenès de Stéphanie' by Florian Ecrepont & Stéphanie Maton. They praised the simplicity and efficiency of Ecrepont & Maton and saw David Gatten as Duncan Campbell's strongest "opponent" in the international competition.

The jury consisted of Sofie Benoot, a young promising Belgian documentary filmmaker, Xavier Garcia Bardon, a curator, teacher and musician who is currently active at Bozar and Brent Klinkum (NZ), founder of Transat, a French nomadic structure which organises screenings and exhibitions. 

The busy festival-weekend is over, but Courtisane isn't completely over and done with. Don't miss the masterclass by our Artist in Focus Morgan Fisher at HISK tomorrow afternoon (14h-17h30). And until April 11th  you can visit the exhibition Digest Sound at Witte Zaal with work by Omer Fast, Erik Bünger, Matt O'dell, Disinformation & Jean-Luc Moulène, which will close with a performance by Erik Bünger on April 11th. And then it's straight forward to 2011, for our tenth edition! 

The winner of the International Competition:

Make It New John, Duncan Campbell, UK , 2009, video, 55'

This is the story of the DeLorean car, its creator John DeLorean and the workers of the Belfast-based car plant who built it. The film deftly contrasts the DeLorean dream with its spectacular downfall during a critical period in Northern Ireland’s history, and the canonisation of the car as a symbol of the American myth of mobility. 

The jury: "Duncan Campbell is well on his way to invent a new form of filmmaking. In this unique approach of a social history topic , he playfully combines archive material and fictionalised re-enactments. He made it new and he blew us away."

Prize: Thanks to Avid and the renewed software package Media Composer, the international competition laureate will achieve even more in digital image processing.

The winner of the National Competition: 

Trickland, Isabelle Tollenaere, BE, 2010, video, 18'

Isabelle Tollenaere sketches two parallel worlds, populated by the same characters. Trains glide through the landscape. The sun comes up. A couple takes care of their miniature landscape. A temperate ode to the love of life, and maybe even a pamphlet against the endangered status of the panda bear.

The jury: "After considerable discussion we have decided that the most intrinsically Belgian work that we have seen, is also the work in which the artist has created her own appealing and idiosyncratic universe. Isabelle Tollenaere with “Trickland” has treated with considerable humanity, subject material, which is often looked down upon and treated with a certain derision."

Prize: Eye-Lite enlightens Courtisane’s best Belgian production’s path with a gift voucher for lighting rental.

In collaboration with 'de kijkdoos', Courtisane organises a Sunday afternoon workshop (21.03 13:00-16:30) for children who attend the Baby Matinee screening. And in the meantime, parents can enjoy some of the festival programmes. A not-to-be-missed opportunity!

It costs 5€ and there are only 15 places available, so please reserve beforehand via evelien.debruyne@courtisane.be. Please indicate clearly whether you are making a reservation for the screening or the workshop, or both!

David O’Reilly (EI, 1985)kicks off the festival at Sphinx (17.03, 20:00). He is without a doubt one of the rising stars in the animation firmament. Based in Berlin, he evenly divides his valuable energy between commercial work (for, among others, music acts such as U2 and M.I.A.) and utterly personal experimentations which recklessly exploit the potential of 3D computer animation. His “turbodrama” Please Say Something was awarded a Golden Bear at the Berlinale 2009. We're really curious!

More on David O'Reilly here.

Who, what and when ... You'll find it here!

Paul Clipson & William Fowler Collins, Phantom Limb & Earth's Hypnagogia, Disinformation, Pieter Geenen, Dominique Petitgand, Paul Abbott, Seymour Wright, Ross Lambert, Morgan Fisher, David O'Reilly, David Gatten, Matt O'dell, Barry Hale, Joe Banks, Carlos Giffoni, Oneohtrix Point Never ...

As always, Courtisane 2010 will present a broad selection of recent Belgian and international film and video works, bringing together an exciting mix of up and coming young talent and established names. 

On top of that, two thematic evenings will be filled with performances, installations and screenings. Thursday 18th March will be devoted to Night Vision, exploring the dynamics between visibility and invisibility, light and darkness, seeing the night and seeing in the night, with among others Paul Clipson & William Fowler Collins, Phantom Limb & Earth's Hypnagogia, Disinformation and Pieter Geenen. Surface Tension, on Friday 19th March, has Dominique Petitgand and Paul Abbott with Seymour Wright & Ross Lambert investigating the folds and fissures between perception and conscience, experience and meaning. 

This year's Artists in Focus are David O'Reilly, rising star in the animation community. Morgan Fisher, whose work sits between avant-garde cinema, film industry and contemporary art and David Gatten, who explores the intersection of the printed word and the moving image. Digest Sound, the exhibition, focuses on the sometimes successful, sometimes failing marriage between communication and technology, featuring work by Matt O'dell, Barry Hale & Joe Banks. The limits of communication will also be subject of the programme Vital Signs, with films and videos by Katarina Zdjelar, Gary Hill, David Gatten and many others. Our friends from KRAAK will also present a series of concerts during the festival. Get a foretaste with Carlos Giffoni & Oneohtrix Point Never on March 14th !