Awards

Felix van Groeningen is a real filmmaker. This is a beautiful and original way of looking at a mother and father's relationship with their terminally sick daughter. We especially liked the cinematography, the non-linear structure of the story, and the fact that he avoids easy emotional manipulation while dealing with a tough subject. The music from the parents' bluegrass band is not just the soundtrack but a source of energy and hope for everyone. The clear message is that we must invest in scientific research and not allow religion or politics to interfere.

Jointly Awarded

2nd Runner-up

A country song of a film - with all the love, pain, tragedy, and heartache life can throw at you. A testament to the human spirit and how we can endure almost anything as long as there is even a sliver of hope or faith. Set in the small country of Belgium, this is a very personal story mirroring the ultimate decline of the American dream.

Jury Comments: "The Broken Circle Breakdown is a true original, starting with the eclectic ingredients in its dynamic screenplay: a romance of opposites, a battle between spiritual faith and secular humanism, triggered by unthinkable tragedy, a Flemish bluegrass band. With dialogue that spans the sweetly flirtatious and the operatically confrontational -- and with dollops of humor and a pure, deep love of music - the film leaps nimbly back and forth in time to conjure vivid characters who face down literal life-or-death issues. They win both our rapt interest and our greatest empathy; they make us both think and feel."

Belgium