the name of the award comes from the painter rené magritte. charly herscovici, who created the magritte foundation, allowed the académie to use the name of the artist. the awarding statuette was created by designer and sculptor xavier lust, who drew inspiration from a poster entitled "moments inoubliables du cinema" created by rené magritte in 1958 for a film festival. the 1st magritte awards ceremony took place on 5 february 2011 at the square meeting centre in brussels. during the ceremony, the académie andré delvaux presented magritte awards in twenty categories. film director jaco van dormael presided the ceremony, while actress helena noguerra hosted the evening. the ceremony, televised in belgium by betv, was produced by josé bouquiaux and directed by vincent j. gustin.