Series & Events
Ben X
Co-presented by EMP | SFM
Nic Balthazar’s startling debut feature began as a novel that he was commissioned to write in a bid to increase literacy among Belgian kids. The book was a bestseller, spawned a hit play, and is now a prize-winning film.
Ben (newcomer Greg Timmermans) is different. Mildly autistic, he lives in his own online galaxy, away from the daily hell of school life where a pair of bullies makes his life miserable. Escaping into his video game and inspired by Scarlite—a kindred spirit he encounters on the Internet—Ben devises a plan to change his life and get rid of his tormentors once and for all.
Balthazar structures the unleashing of this plan in such a way that the spectator is never certain what is real and what is a figment of Ben’s dark imagination, a technique that is chillingly effective. Ultimately, the film is a plea for better understanding of the diversity that exists in every human being. Naturally, the film has dazzling fantasy computer graphics and is further enhanced by a haunting score by Praga Khan.
Belgium’s submission to the Academy Awards, 2008 for Best Foreign Language Feature; Grand Prix Winner, Montreal Film Festival
“The best movie I've seen about teen angst since Donnie Darko... It's also the best film about a bullied teen with Asperger's Syndrome that I've seen from any country, and its blurred life-into-vidgame fantasy sequences makes it seem doubly topical.” —Brian Miller, Village Voice
Cast & Crew
Director: Nic Balthazar
Producer: Peter Bouckaert, Erwin Provost
Editor: Peter Flamman, Wart Wamsteker
Screenwriter: Nic Balthazar, based on his novel
Cinematographer: Praga Khan
Awards: Official Oscar Submission 2007 (Best Foreign Language Film)
Montreal 2007 (Grand Prize of the Americ
Music: Philippe Ravoet
Principal Cast: Greg Timmermans, Laura Verlinden, Marijke Pinoy, Pol Goossen, Titus De Voogdt
Filmography: Debut Feature Film
US Distributor: Film Movement
World Sales: Films Distribution
Average rating:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
(1 review)
user reviews
-
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Rather disjointed at the beginning, but an otherwise moving piece about autism, Jun 04, 2008
By Nick Nelson
“Ben is an autistic uh... kid (or at least he's supposed to be a kid, the actor is way too old) who is the unfortunate victim of bullying. He is always deeply inside himself, unable to react to what is happening around him in the real world, doing nothing while his bullying gets worse and worse,”
… full review
-
