Rosetta (1999)

Seraing, a post-industrial era near the city of Liège, is the home base of Luc (1954) and Jean-Pierre (1951) Dardenne, probably the most widely known Belgian directors. The former coal mining and steel industry town is the decor of almost all their fiction films. The struggle for survival and human dignity is at the core of their oeuvre, from their breakthrough film La Promesse (1996) to their penultimate film Deux jour, une nuit (2014). In Rosetta (1999) for which they were awarded the Palme d’Or in Cannes (+ Best Actress for Emilie Dequenne) the brothers confirm the visual style set in La Promesse (1996): an over-energetic hand-held camera that imposes itself to the characters, extreme close-ups and nervous cutting.