Young Ahmed | |
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![]() Film poster | |
French | Le Jeune Ahmed |
Directed by | Luc Dardenne Jean-Pierre Dardenne |
Written by | Jean-Pierre Luc Dardenne |
Produced by | Jean-Pierre Dardenne Luc Dardenne Denis Freyd |
Starring | Idir Ben Addi |
Cinematography | Benoît Dervaux |
Edited by | Marie-Hélène Dozo Tristan Meunier |
Production companies | Les Films du Fleuve Archipel 35 |
Distributed by | Cinéart (Belgium) Diaphana Films (France) |
Release dates | |
Running time | 84 minutes |
Countries | Belgium France |
Language | French |
Box office | $1.5 million [2] [3] |
Young Ahmed (French : Le Jeune Ahmed) is a 2019 Belgian drama film directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The film revolves around a young Muslim boy from Belgium who plots to murder his teacher in the name of his religion. [4] It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. [5] At Cannes the Dardenne brothers won the award for Best Director. [6]
Ahmed, a 13-year-old, plots to kill his teacher, whom he believes to be an apostate after being radicalised by a local imam. Ahmed is arrested and sent to juvenile detention, where he claims to be a reformed character.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 82 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Young Ahmed doesn't represent the Dardennes brothers' most developed work, but solid acting and a socially conscious story help compensate for its flaws." [7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [8]
Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Cannes Film Festival [9] | Palme d'Or | Nominated | |
Best Director | Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne | Won | |
César Award [10] | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | |
Lumières Award [11] | Best International Film | Nominated | |
Magritte Award [12] | Best Film | Nominated | |
Best Director | Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay | Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actor | Othmane Moumen | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actress | Myriem Akheddiou | Won | |
Claire Bodson | Nominated | ||
Most Promising Actor | Idir Ben Addi | Won | |
Most Promising Actress | Victoria Bluck | Nominated | |
Best Editing | Marie-Hélène Dozo | Nominated | |
Valladolid International Film Festival [13] | Best Film | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay | Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne | Won | |
Best Editing | Marie-Hélène Dozo and Tristan Meunier | Won |
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