BEST SCREENPLAY - NARRATIVE AWARD

The winner of Best Screenplay - Narrative Award is Broken Circle Breakdown:

Punky Elise runs a tattoo shop. Cowboy Didier plays banjo in a bluegrass band. When they meet, it’s love at first sight. When they move into a homey old farmhouse where their daughter Maybelle is born, their happiness is complete. But when a crisis strikes the hopeful new family, these two very different lovers are forced to fight for their marriage together. Elise finds comfort in religion, while Didier clings to the here-and-now, and the two find their love and faith tested as they drift farther away from each other, grasping for moments of connection amid their rousing country concerts.

Flemish director Felix van Groeningen follows up his acclaimed Cannes entry The Misfortunates with this powerhouse melodrama. Cutting between moments in time in an increasingly sophisticated play with linearity, van Groeningen weaves together and ultimately fuses the highs and lows of one tragic romance in a timeless tale of star-crossed lovers. Winner of the Audience Award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, The Broken Circle Breakdown is an epic, crowd-pleasing, tear-jerking, one-of-a-kind musical romance.

—Cara Cusumano