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PRODUCTION Belgium

Film shoots galore

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With directors making the most of the quiet summer period, film shoots are currently taking place in both French and Flemish-speaking Belgium. We thus see the return of Felix Van Groeningen, the acclaimed director of Steve + Sky (2003, Best Film and Best Original Score at the Joseph Plateau Awards for Belgian Film), and With Friends Like These [+see also:
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen
film profile
]
(2007).

Following what seems to be a trend in Flemish film, Van Groeningen is working on the adaptation of a best-selling novel, Dimitri Verhulst’s De Helaasheid der dingen, which offers an uncompromising portrait of contemporary, rural Belgium. Shooting kicked off on July 21 and is set to wrap at the start of September.

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The film’s cast includes newcomers (such as Wouter Hendrickx, who attracted attention in the popular series Wispe) and established actors, such as Koen De Graeve, who starred in the director’s previous film and will be seen onscreen in the autumn in Loft by Erik Van Looy (The Alzheimer Case [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
). The title also features Johan Heldenbergh, who appeared in Steve + Sky and captivated cinemagoers and Cannes audiences in Moscow, Belgium [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

De Helaasheid der dingen – which is produced by Belgium’s Favourite Films and co-produced by Dutch company IDTV Film – is set to be released by Kinepolis in autumn 2009.

Between now and September, other film shoots will get underway. Dorothé van den Berghe’s My Queen Karo – co-produced by Flanders’ Caviar Films, Wallonia’s Tarantula and Holland’s IDTV Film – has received backing from Eurimages, VAF, CCA and the Dutch Film Fund.

Caroline Strubbe’s Belgian co-production, Lost Person Area, is produced by Mind Meets on the Flemish side and Artemis on the French-speaking side. The film is also co-produced by Holland’s De Productie and Hungary’s Uj Budapest Filmstudio.

Other films shooting this summer include Indra Siera’s Old Belgium, Filip Van Neyghem’s Blinker en de blixvaten and Kaat BeelsSwooni.

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(Translated from French)

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