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Just Friends

Synopsis

Antwerp, 1959.

Jack must work at the docks to ensure his survival. His dream is to go to New York, the Mecca of jazz, in order to confront his masters, the great black American musicians. But this dream requires money.

Jack's band, the Bop Friends, perform in debilitating tea rooms or in Mickey Bunner's big band. Andre, Jack's sculptor friend, whose avant-garde experiences earned him the ire of his neighbors and the contempt of the academy, meets Lucy and sets out to conquer her. But it is already for Jack that she vibrates. Love settles between Jack and Lucy, but Jack has only one thought, one desire, always the same and always unsatisfied: to join New York, its music scene, its legendary musicians. Where can he find the dollars he needs so badly?

Technical sheet

Director : Marc-Henri Wajnberg

Scenario: Pierre Sterckx, Alexandre and Marc-Henri Wajnberg

Casting: Josse De Pauw, Anne-Gisel Glass, Charles Berling, Sylvie Milhaud

Music composed by Michel Herr

Musicians: Archie Shepp, Michel Herr, Ricardo del Fra, John Engels, ...

Run Time: 92 minutes

Year: 1992

A Wajnbrosse production

In co-production with Panic Productions (France), Praxino Pictures (Netherlands), NOS (Netherlands)

With the support of the French Community of Belgium, RTBF, BRTN, De Vlaamse Gemeenschap,

La Loterie Nationale, Canal +, CNC, Media 2 and De Stichting Productie Fonds voor Nederlandse Films

 

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"An exciting debut film magnificently served by a high class performance and a sumptuous soundtrack"

Première

"It is all the passion for jazz as it was lived on this side of the Atlantic that Marc-Henri Wajnberg resuscitates with talent"

Cine Journal

"Marc-Henri Wajnberg offered Josse De Pauw a role commensurate with his immense talent"

Telemoustique

“Wajnberg searches hearts between laughter and emotion, between poetry and reality. He understood the drift of dreams and captured the naive recklessness. "

Le Soir

"Better than a story, Wajnberg tells a passion, whole and maintained within the small world"

La Cité

FESTIVALS

Selected to represent Belgium at the Oscars

Montevideo Festival 1994 (Montevideo, Uruguay);

Festival du Val d'Aoste 1994 (Aosta, Italy);

Ghent Film Festival 1994 (Ghent, Belgium);

Incontri Internazionale del Cinema di Sorrento 1994 (Sorrento, Italy);

Festival de la Baule 1993 (La Baule, France);

as well as 29 other festivals including Bucharest, Cartagena, Ankara and Mumbai

AWARDS

André Cavens Prize awarded by the Union de la Critique Cinéma (UCC) 1993

Jury Prize - Festival de La Baule 1993

Best Actor Award (Josse De Pauw) - Festival de La Baule 1993

Best Belgian Film - Youth Prize 1993

Femina Prize of the City of Brussels - 1993

Best Screenplay Award - Philip Morris Movie Club Award 1993

First Work Prize - Montevideo Festival 1994

Grand Prize - Val d'Aosta Film Festival 1994

Joseph Plateau Prize for Best Belgian Film - Ghent Festival 1994

Joseph Plateau Award for Best Actor - Ghent Festival 1994

Joseph Plateau Award for Best Director - Ghent Festival 1994

Grand Prize - International Film Meetings of Sorrento 1994

Disc of the month (original soundtrack) - Jazz in Time Magazine, 1993

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