A Magritte Award (, ) is an accolade presented by the

Académie André Delvaux The Académie André Delvaux is a Belgium, Belgian professional organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of Cinema of Belgium, Belgian cinema. Founded in 2010, it is responsible for the annual Magritte Awards, Belgium's principal fil ...

of Belgium to recognize cinematic achievement in the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

. Modelled after the French

César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar R ...

, the formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is one of the most prominent award ceremonies in Belgium. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette. The awards, first presented in 2011, are considered the Belgian equivalent of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

in the United States. Historically given during the first quarter of the new year, the awards honor achievements for cinematic accomplishments for the preceding year. The 14th Magritte Awards ceremony was held on 22 February 2025 at the Flagey, in the historic site of

Place Eugène Flagey The (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch), usually shortened to the Place Flagey, or Flagey by locals, is a Town square, square in the Ixelles municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It bears the name of a former mayor of Ixelles, ...

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

History

Founded in 2010, the

was established at the request of the Francophone Film Producers Association (UPFF) and Pro Spère, to unite the five branches of the

, including actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers. The Académie aims to recognize excellence in Belgian cinematic achievements in order to have a Belgian counterpart to the

s of France. After the cancellation of the Joseph Plateau Awards ceremony, which was absorbed into the Film Fest Ghent in 2007, a national film award was missing in Belgium. This led the Académie André Delvaux to establish the Magritte Award. An accolade for artistic and technical merit in the Flemish film industry was launched a year earlier as part of the Ostend Film Festival and called Ensor Award. The name of the award comes from the painter

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...

. Charly Herscovici, who created the Magritte Foundation, allowed the Académie to use the name of the artist. The awarding statuette was created by designer and sculptor Xavier Lust, who drew inspiration from a poster entitled ''Moments inoubliables du cinema'' created by René Magritte in 1958 for a film festival. The 1st Magritte Awards ceremony took place on 5 February 2011 at the Square Meeting Centre in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. During the ceremony, the Académie André Delvaux presented Magritte Awards in twenty categories. Film director

Jaco Van Dormael Jaco Van Dormael (born 9 February 1957) is a Belgium, Belgian film director, screenwriter and playwright. His films especially focus on a respectful and sympathetic portrayal of people with mental and physical disability, disabilities. Van Dorm ...

presided the ceremony, while actress Helena Noguerra hosted the evening. The ceremony, televised in Belgium by BeTV, was produced by José Bouquiaux and directed by Vincent J. Gustin. At the 2nd ceremony, held on 4 February 2012, the

Magritte Award for Best Film in Coproduction The 1st Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best 2010 in film, films of 2010 in Belgium and took place on 5 February 2011 at the Square – Brussels Meeting Centre, Square in the historic site of Mont d ...

was split in Best Foreign Film in Coproduction and Best Flemish Film in Coproduction. The latter was renamed Best Flemish Film in 2015. An Audience Award was presented to a Belgian film personality in 2011 and 2012, before being replaced by Best First Feature Film in 2013; its winner, however, was first announced during the 66th Cannes Film Festival, three months after the Magritte Awards ceremony. In 2016, it became a merit category, with the audience award being finally retired. The same year, Best Short Film was split in Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film. The 8th ceremony was the first to be aired on

La Deux Tipik is a Belgian national television channel, owned and operated by the French-language public-service broadcasting organization RTBF. History From RTbis to Télé 2 On March 26, 1977, RTB launched a second television channel called RTBis, wh ...

, after

RTBF The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...

took over broadcast rights from BeTV.

Rules and voting

The Académie André Delvaux, a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 800 as of 2015. It is divided into different branches, with each representing a different discipline in film production. All members must be invited to join by the Board of Directors. Membership eligibility may be achieved by a competitive nomination or a member may submit a name based on other significant contribution to the field of motion pictures. To be eligible for nomination, a film must be a Belgian production and open in the previous calendar year (from October 16 of the previous calendar year to October 15 of the following year) in Belgium and play for seven consecutive days. In December, the Académie reveals the list of eligible releases; a DVD set with the catalog of films is also sent to the electors. Voters use an instant run-off voting ballot, with potential nominees rewarded in the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

tally for having strong supporters who rank them first. The winners are then determined by a second round of voting. All members are allowed to vote in most categories, except for the Honorary Magritte Award, whose recipients are determined by the Board of Directors of the Académie. After the nominations are revealed, in January, special screenings of the nominated films are shown.

Awards ceremonies

The following is a listing of all Magritte Awards ceremonies.

References

External links

* *
Magritte Awards
at

{{National Cinema Awards Belgian film awards Awards established in 2010 2010 establishments in Belgium

History

Rules and voting

Categories

Awards ceremonies

See also

References

External links