Belgian director Nic Balthazar and producer Peter Bouckaert walked away with the inaugural Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
Ben X concerns an autistic teenager who takes refuge in the world of online gaming after facing bullying at school. In addition to the Black Pearl trophy, Balthazar also scoops a cash prize of AED300,000 (£39,000).
Despite Ben X marking Balthazar's directorial feature debut, it was Aussie helmer Michael James Roland who walked off with the Jury Prize (and a further AED300,000) for Best New Director for his film Lucky Miles, about three men who find themselves stranded in an Australian desert.
Brit director Paul Taylor's documentary We Are Together - about life in an African orphanage - continues to pick up awards wherever it goes, this time scooping the Black Pearl for Best Documentary Film and a AED300,000 purse.
Acting gongs, meanwhile, went to the ensemble cast - Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisele Aouad and Sihame Haddad - of Lebanese romantic comedy Caramel, who all share the AED300,000 award for Best Actress, while Carl Makovics was named Best Actor for his performance in The Counterfeiters.
Picking up awards for short films - each worth AED100,000 (£13,000) - were Hisham Zaman for Bawke (Best Short Film), Olivier Pont for Manon On The Pavement (Best New Director of Short Film) and John Rashkin for I Met The Walrus (Best Animated Short Film).
