"Louise Michel" picks up screenwriting award at San Sebastian

Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine (photo) have picked up the Best Screenplay award at Spain's 56th San Sebastian Film Festival for "Louise Michel". Their third feature, the film stars Yolande Moreau, Bouli Lanners, Benoît Poelevorde and Matthieu Kassovitz (who also co-produced) in a goofy tale of a hit-man and his client chasing an unscrupulous company boss. The film will screen at the London Film Festival (October 15-30) and open in Belgium on December 24. Overall winner at San Sebastian was the Turkish film "Pandora's Box" by Yesim Ustaoglu (co-written by Selma Kaygusuz), which also won Best Actress.

For details, check the 56th San Sebastian Film Festival.

Cannes 2007: Script award for Fatih Akin

Already one of the darlings of Germany's new cinema, Fatih Akin has picked up the screenplay award at Cannes for "The Edge of Heaven/Auf der anderen seite/Yasamin kiyisinda" as well as picking up the award from the Ecumenical Jury. Why three titles? Because Fatih Akin is a German of Turkish descent who has taken another look at the lives of people affected by the two countries. His first film, "Head On", was already an uncompromising quest for identity. He followed it with "Crossing the Bridge", a commendable documentary about musicians in Istanbul. He says of the characters in "The Edge of Heaven", that "they reflect a part of me, something that changes every day, because I change my mind every day. And I was inspired by the people I met during my trip to Turkey for 'Crossing the Bridge', people who are trying to change the world with music. Activism and political passion can be very sexy."

For the full interview, see Cineuropa. For the official site of "The Edge of Heaven" (in Turkish).