''Aaltra'' is a 2004 Belgian

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

deadpan

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film directed and written by Gustave de Kervern and

Benoît Delépine Benoît Delépine (; born 30 August 1958) is a French comedian and film director. He is known for his satirical activities on TV channel Canal+. Director of the TV program '' Guignols de l'info'' for many years, he currently writes TV programs ...

. The film won four awards and was nominated for three others.

Plot

Benoit Delepine plays a harassed businessman who, frazzled by commuting to his office, is working from home against company rules. While arguing with a jobbing farmworker ( Gustave Kervern), whose tractor is spraying herbicide into his garden he is summoned to the office by his angry bosses. However, his car becomes stuck behind the tractor. The farmworker will not let him pass, resulting in the businessman missing the train and losing his job. Frustrated, he seeks out the farmworker and assaults him. The two wake up in hospital, having been crushed by a malfunctioning farm machine as they struggled. They are now confined to wheelchairs and both set out for Finland to seek out the eponymous farm machine manufacturer to demand compensation.

Cast

as The Employee * Gustave Kervern as The Farm Worker * Michel de Gavre as Farmer *

Benoît Poelvoorde Benoît Poelvoorde (, ; born 22 September 1964) is a Belgian actor and comedian. Early life His mother was a grocer and his father a driver, who died when Poelvoorde was still a minor. He attended the Collège Saint-Paul (Godinne), Jesuit Boar ...

as Motocross Spectator *

Bouli Lanners Philippe "Bouli" Lanners (born 20 May 1965) is a Belgian actor, author and film director. His film '' The Giants'' was nominated for twelve Magritte Awards, winning five, including Best Film and Best Director. Biography Lanners was born on 2 ...

as The Finnish singer * Gérard Condejean as The Chinese * Isabelle Delépine as Wife

Accolades

Won

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

2004 **FIPRESCI Prize - Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern *

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the fe ...

2004 **Best Actor - Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern *

Transilvania International Film Festival The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF; ) is the first international feature film festival in Romania, which is held annually in the historic capital of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca. Founded in 2002 by the Romanian Film Promotion (), TIFF ...

2004 **Audience Award - Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern * Joseph Plateau Awards 2005 **Best Belgian Actor -

Nominations

Copenhagen International Film Festival Copenhagen International Film Festival (CIFF) was a film festival held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 2003 to 2008. The main prize, the Golden Swan, was awarded for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Script and Best C ...

2004 **Golden Swan Award - Benoît Delépine *

Rotterdam International Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

2004 **Tiger Award - Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern * Joseph Plateau Awards 2005 **Best Belgian Film

References

External links

* 2004 films 2000s French-language films Belgian black comedy films French black comedy films Films about people with paraplegia or tetraplegia Films directed by Benoît Delépine Films directed by Gustave Kervern French comedy road movies 2000s road movies 2004 black comedy films Belgian road movies 2000s French films Ad Vitam (company) films 2000s Belgian films {{2000s-comedy-film-stub