Young Ahmed

Young Ahmed
Film poster
FrenchLe Jeune Ahmed
Directed byLuc Dardenne
Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Written byJean-Pierre
Luc Dardenne
Produced byJean-Pierre Dardenne
Luc Dardenne
Denis Freyd
StarringIdir Ben Addi
CinematographyBenoît Dervaux
Edited byMarie-Hélène Dozo
Tristan Meunier
Production
companies
Distributed byCinéart (Belgium)
Diaphana Films (France)
Release dates
  • 20 May 2019 (2019-05-20) (Cannes)[1]
  • 22 May 2019 (2019-05-22) (Belgium & France)
Running time
84 minutes
CountriesBelgium
France
LanguageFrench
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]

Plot

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.

Cast

  • Idir Ben Addi as Ahmed
  • Olivier Bonnaud as Caseworker
  • Myriem Akheddiou as Inès
  • Victoria Bluck as Louise
  • Claire Bodson as Mother
  • Othmane Moumen as Imam Youssouf
  • Amine Hamidou as Rachid
  • Yassine Tarsimi as Abdel
  • Frank Onana as Fouad
  • Laurent Caron as Mathieu
  • Annette Closset as Sandrine
  • Marc Zinga as Juge
  • Ben Hamidou as Amine
  • Monia Douieb as Amina

Reception

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]

Accolades

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

References

  1. ^ "The Screenings Guide 2019". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Young Ahmed (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Young Ahmed (2020)". The Numbers. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  4. ^ "'Young Ahmed' Trailer: The Dardennes Craft A Controversial Film About A Radicalized Muslim Teen That's Heading To Cannes". theplaylist.net. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Cannes festival 2019: full list of films". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite wins Palme d'Or at Cannes film festival". The Guardian. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Young Ahmed (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Young Ahmed Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite Wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes". Variety. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  10. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (29 January 2020). "Roman Polanski's 'An Officer And A Spy' tops César nominations". Screen Daily. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  11. ^ Lemercier, Fabien (3 December 2019). "Les Misérables domine les nominations pour les Lumières" (in French). Cineuropa. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  12. ^ Dricot, Lucy (1 February 2020). "Découvrez le palmarès complet de la 10e cérémonie des Magritte du cinéma" (in French). RTBF. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  13. ^ Rivera, Alfonso (29 October 2019). "This Year's Seminci Golden Spike Is Bound for Mongolia". Cineuropa. Retrieved 24 January 2020.