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Awards & Jury’s

The SEA DEVIL is the festival’s top prize for the best fantastic feature film

With Imagine’s new branding, our most important award has been given a new name as well. The award for the best feature film, formerly the Black Tulip, is called the Sea Devil from this year onward, after our new festival icon.

This year’s jury for the Sea Devil consists of screenwriter Bodil Matheeuwsen, filmmaker Nico van den Brink and video and film essayist Peet Gelderblom.

The 2022 competition:
  • Ashkal – Youssef Chebbi (Tunesia 2022)
  • Brian and Charles – Jim Archer (United Kingdom 2022)
  • Huesera – Michelle Garza Cervera (Mexico 2022)
  • The Five Devils | Les cinq diables – Lea Mysius (France 2022)
  • Holy Spider – Ali Abbasi (Denmark, Sweden, Belgium 2022)
  • Leonor Will Never Die – Martika Ramirez Escobar (Philippines 2022)
  • Pietà | La Piedad – Eduardo Casanova (Spain 2022)
  • Polaris – Kirsten Carthew (Canada 2022)
  • Something in the Dirt – Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead (USA 2022)
  • Wolfkin | Kommunioun – Jacques Molitor (Luxemburg 2022)

The jury awards: ASHKAL

From the jury report:

This year’s Sea Devil goes out to a genre film coming from where you least expect it. In which allegory and imagination give solid shape to emerging hopes and fears. A story about alienation after the Arab Spring, economically told in a series of atmospheric vignettes. Set in the no-man’s land between “could have been” and “may become”, where the concrete skeleton of the past meets the forging fire of the future. This is revolution under construction. This is… Ashkal.

Competition en jury Méliès short film

The Méliès d’argent is awarded on behalf of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) to the best European feature film and short film.

The short film jury consists of film programmer Mei-ling Djoa, director Jörgen Scholtens and former Imagine educator Anouk Balvers.

  • Amy & I – Bastiaan Rook (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Ashkasha – Lara Maltz (Spain 2022)
  • The Black ReCat – Paolo Gaudio (Italy 2022)
  • The Caterpillar Girl – Aleksandra Bokova (The Netherlands 2021)
  • Covid Love – Rene Nuijens (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Cut it Out – Inez Kristina (Denmark 2021)
  • Drifter – Joost Jansen (Belgium 2022)
  • Eos – Razan Hassan, Wessel van Wanrooij (The Netherlands 2022)
  • A Final Transmission – Kelly Klingenberg (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Gnomes – Ruwan Heggelman (The Netherlands 2022)
  • I, Adonis – Angelo Raaijmakers (The Netherlands 2022)
  • It Escapes, Irretrievable Time – Chellysia Rae Christen (The Netherlands 2022)
  • KØT – Nils Gerbens (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Legs – Celine Cotran (United Kingdom 2022)
  • The Light – Iago de Soto (Spain 2021)
  • New Babylon – Gideon van der Stelt (The Netherlands 2021)
  • Other Half – Lina Kalcheva (United Kingdom 2021)
  • Peaches and Scream – Adrian Kirk Ejsing (Denmark 2022)
  • Phantasmagoria – Alejandro Mathé (Germany 2022)
  • Pox – Simon Young (Austria 2022)
  • Subhuman – Arjen Schotel (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Sucker – Steve Oen (The Netherlands 2022)
  • The Following Year – Miguel Campaña (United Kingdom 2021)
  • Under the Ice – Alvaro Rodrigues Areny (Spain 2021)
  • WhatKilledTimmyBenson – Nick Cremers (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Red Cemetery – Francisco Lacerda (Portugal 2022)

The jury for the Méliès d’argent for short films awarded the prize to GNOMES

From the jury report:

The winning short film can be called fantastic in every way. The imagination is given free rein and actually splashes off the screen. With compliments for the creature design, the sound design and the wonderful music. And, of course, the insane story itself. Is it just colder or is it also the necessary social criticism? Anyway, Ruwan Heggelman, congratulations on the Méliès d’Argent for GNOMES!

Competition and jury Méliès d’Argent  for the best European fantastic film

This prize is awarded on behalf of the Méliès International Festivals Federation.

This year’s feature film jury consists of journalist Alex Mazereeuw, actress Loïs Dols de Jong and festival director Henriette Poelman.

The feature film competition consists of:

  • Attachment – Gabriel Bier Gislason (Denmark 2022)
  • The Elderly | Viejos – Fernando Gonzalez Gomez, Raul Cerezo (Spain 2022)
  • Exhibit #8 – Ruben Broekhuis (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Family Dinner – Peter Hengl (Austria 2022)
  • Flux Gourmet – Peter Strickland (United Kingdom 2022)
  • Holy Shit! | Ach, du Scheisse! – Lukas Rinker (Germany 2022)
  • Megalomaniac – Karim Ouelhaj (Belgium 2022)
  • Sputum – Dan Geesin (The Netherlands 2022)
  • Vesper – Kristina Buozyte, Bruno Samper (Lithuania, France, Belgium 2022)

 

The feature film jury awarded : ATTACHMENT

From the jury report:
In ATTACHMENT, director Gabriel Bier Gislason effectively builds tension, and we are gradually admitted into the Jewish mysticism unknown to many viewers. The relationship between the three women who unexpectedly share a life is also very strong and calm, with fantastic acting by the three protagonists. Sofie Gråbøl in particular makes an overwhelming impression. ATTACHMENT feels real, is unadorned, subtle and with a lightness yet pleasantly eerie. No big excesses, because both plot and cinematography remain small and close to the characters. The fact that they are always driven by wanting the best for others, but remain searching in different ways, makes the film charming and often even sweet. As a result, even the monster eventually appears almost human.

Previous winners Méliès d’Argent
2021: Censor – Prano Bailey-Bond
2020: Dogs Don’t Wear Pants – Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää

2019: O Beautiful Night – Xavier Böhm
2018: The Place – Paolo Genovese
2017: Skins – Eduardo Casanova
2016: The Survivalist – Stephen Fingleton
2015: Liza, The Fox-Fairy – Károly Ujj Mészáros

Competitie Silver Scream Award

The Silver Scream Award is Imagine’s infamous and coveted audience prize. During the festival the audience can vote via a paper ballot after watching a film.

The jury: the Imagine audience.

The audience of Imagine 2022 chose the Polish Documentary Escape to the Silver Globe by Kuba Mikurda as winner

The final count of 2022

1 | Escape to the Silver Globe (8,821)
2 | Menu, The (8,788)
3 | Vesper (8,664)
4 | Brian and Charles (8,626)
5 | Holy Spider (8,612)
6 | Spine of Night, The (8,601)
7 | Attachment (8,478)
8 | Exhibit #8 (8,453)
9 | Roundup, The (8,435)
10 | Lynch/Oz (8,425)
11 | Sick of Myself (8,358)
12 | Hunt (8,356)
13 | Watcher (8,327)
14 | Five Devils, The (8,313)
15 | Leonor Will Never Die (8,250)
16 | Piedad, La (8,200)
17 | Barbarian (8,162)
18 | Deadstream (8,125)
19 | Flux Gourmet (8,117)
20 | Piggy (8,114)
21 | Wolfkin (8,096)
22 | Project Wolf Hunting (8,067)
23 | Detective vs. Sleuths (8,023)
24 | Silent Twins, The (7,995)
25 | Taking, The (7,975)
26 | Three Thousand Years of Longing (7,938)
27 | My Grandfather’s Demons (7,934)
28 | Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (7,933)
29 | Witch Part 2: The Other One, The (7,930)
30 | Holy Shit! / Ach du Scheisse! (7,914)
31 | Veneciafrenia (7,837)
32 | Shin Ultraman (7,808)
33 | You Are Not My Mother (7,750)
34 | Silent Forest, The (7,723)
35 | Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion (7,694)
36 | Huesera (7,645)
37 | Family Dinner (7,625)
38 | Megalomaniac (7,500)
39 | Earwig (7,328)
40 | You Won’t Be Alone (7,231)
41 | Candy Land (7,107)
42 | Something in the Dirt (7,107)
43 | Ajagajantharam (7,097)
44 | Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (7,094)
45 | Elderly, The (7,000)
46 | Swallowed (6,963)
47 | Christmas Bloody Christmas (6,923)
48 | Sputum (6,897)
49 | V/H/S/99 (6,688)
50 | Black Minutes, The (6,625)
51 | Eyes Below, The (6,559)
52 | Ashkal (6,298)
53 | Polaris (6,250)
54 | Dark Glasses (5,611)
55 | Day Zero (5,398)