Weekly ※ Friday 06.10.23
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Friday is weekly: a digest of what the team has seen, read and listened to, and wants to share with you.
“Beyond the Sea”, récompensé au FIFF à Namur
On October 1, Namur audiences had the opportunity to discover ‘Beyond the Sea’, the short film directed by the Brussels-based Hippolyte Leibovici. The film tells the story of the connection established between Lady Casca (played by Jean-Michel Vovk), a Drag Queen on the point of retiring, and Thomas, portrayed by the sparkling Thomas Mustin (aka Mustii), for whom the role is perfectly suited.
The director explains on his Instagram account that he wished to ‘come back with something simple: a film which would make people deeply happy, as well as bringing tears to their eyes’. Mission accomplished, for that is exactly how the kingkong team felt when seeing the film at the preview showing. And if we also add that the work is a musical comedy, you will certainly understand why we loved it so much.
Selected for numerous festivals, ‘Beyond the Sea’ was presented at the Fribourg International Film Festival, held in Namur, on October 1. All in all, the film walked away with three prizes: the Audience Award, the Jury Prize and the RTBF La Trois Prize. Accolades which are very well deserved. If the film is shown near you, get yourselves down there!
Namur is a Joke, third edition
Last week we were also able to get the lowdown on the programme of the third edition of ‘Namur is a Joke’, the festival created by the comedian and entrepreneur GuiHome vous détend. The press conference was held at the Fief, a Namur restaurant. We were welcomed by the GuiHome team and offered a breakfast consisting solely of local products. A detail much appreciated at kingkong.
The time then came for the presentation of the festival. We thereby discovered that the cartoonist Sandron was on the premises, on hand to illustrate everything in a live broadcast. He took every opportunity to gently tease GuiHome and Maxime Prévot, the Namur mayor, who had turned up late for the event. GuiHome launched proceedings by thanking every member of his team, one by one. He then proudly made the following announcement: in a single year, the number of participants at ‘Namur is a Joke’ has risen from 8,000 to 12,000.
As has become the habit, the programme proves to be very varied. The goal? To continue to attract headline acts to the festival, but also to do much more than that. As was the case last year, ‘Namur is a Joke’ aims to spotlight emerging talents from the worlds of comedy and music. The festival is ‘the general headquarters of the artists of tomorrow’, GuiHome insists.
From March 20 to 24, 2024, ‘Namur is a Joke’ will return with a promise: to do even better than the two previous years. What we at kingkong like about the festival is its social engagement. Inclusive, accessible to all, and having a positive impact. Discussions are even underway about the possibility of hosting shows at… Namur prison.
Four new features are of particular interest: a televised opening gala presented by GuiHome and Nicolas Lacroix; Joke XXL, a stage featuring all the big names of comedy; a stand-up evening on a barge; and a symphony concert – Yes, yes, you read it right.
Announced at the end of the second edition, the show to be performed by Jarry sold out in just 42 minutes. The full billing can be found on the ‘Namur is a Joke’ website. And here is the (small) selection chosen by kingkong – If you are looking for us between March 20-24, you know where to find us: Rosa Bursztein, Rori, Laurence Bibot, Florent Losson, Sarah Grosjean, Alex Vizorek, Gaetan Delferière, Thomas Wiesel, Anthony Circus (a one-time Joke winner, a comedy competition organised by ‘Namur is a Joke’), Sarah Lélé, Adel, Juan Rodrigues, Ahmed Scylla. Let’s stop there. See you in March!
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