The second-place prize was awarded also to the Vital filmed by the cult Japanese director Shin'ya Tsukamoto.
The Grand Prix of the BIFFF - the Golden Raven - went to another Japanese director - Takashi Shimizu - for his film Marebito.
The 23rd Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film was held from March 11 to March 26. During the festival, the viewers watched 153 films, including 68 new productions.
More than 40% of the movies were filmed by European directors.
The bulk of the films represented at the festival were horror movies; therefore, the organizers entertained the viewers with the traditional Vampires Ball. In addition, each of the viewers could participate in the contest on the best fantastic make-up.
The Grand Prix of the previous 22nd BIFFF festival was awarded to the Save the Green Planet film directed Jun-Hwan Jang from South Korea, and the audience sympathy award was given to the American sci-fi film The Butterfly Effect.
Timur Bekmambetov's blockbuster had not been nominated for the Oscar Award despite a pompous advertising campaign launched in the United States. Nevertheless, the American producers believe in the bright future of the Night Watch. Recently, the 20th Century Fox has concluded a deal on financing the third and the fourth installment of the "watch" trilogy.
In Russia, though, the positions of the Night Watch have been slightly shaken. Russian distributors have announced that revenues from the new film The Turkish Gambit based on a novel by Boris Akunin surpassed the results achieved by The Night Watch ($16.7 million and $15 million respectively).
