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BOX OFFICE Belgium

Pleasing results for Belgian films in 2018 despite a slight fall in attendance

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- The Flemish-language Gangsta and Don’t Shoot drew in more than 350,000 viewers, while Mon Ket and So Help Me God flew the flag for French-language Belgian cinema

Pleasing results for Belgian films in 2018 despite a slight fall in attendance
Gangsta by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah

We are finally able to take stock of the 2018 Belgian box office, and the figures show some pleasing individual results for movies such as Gangsta [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fal…
interview: Matteo Simoni
film profile
]
Don’t Shoot [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Mon Ket [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: François Damiens
film profile
]
So Help Me God [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Libon and Yves Hinant
film profile
]
 and Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile
]
. Although attendance levels saw a slight drop in 2018 (totalling 18,790,615 admissions, or a 4% fall compared to 2017’s figures, which were up on those of 2016), and although the overall winner was the animated flick Incredibles 2, which sold 553,000 tickets, Belgian films were nevertheless in fine fettle, with Gangsta coming in in pole position with 366,000 admissions, closely followed by Don’t Shoot, which drew in 357,000 viewers. Not a bad performance for talented directorial duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who are currently in Hollywood helming the third opus in the Bad Boys saga, Bad Boys for Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence

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It’s also worth highlighting the success of Girl, an arthouse film that was given a huge boost by the Caméra d’Or it won at Cannes, and by the incredible talent of its makers and its actors. It came in in fourth place in the chart of the ten most-seen Belgian films – just behind the third big-screen adaptation of the popular series FC de Kampioenen [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – enticing nearly 250,000 cinemagoers.

As for French-language films, the standout movie of 2018 in terms of the number of Belgian and French admissions, Mon Ket, racked up 144,000 in the former country and 266,000 in the latter. Interestingly, attendance levels for French-language films of Belgian initiative are skyrocketing in Belgium, up 39% on 2017. For the first time ever, French-language films of Belgian initiative and films of foreign initiative supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre, when combined, took more admissions in Belgium (1,279,763 viewers) than in France (1,217,623). So Help Me God lured 76,000 cinemagoers into the dark rooms in Belgium, a superb result for a documentary and, above all, a fine twofold success for distributor Cinéart and producer ArtemisOur Struggles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Senez
film profile
]
 by Guillaume Senez, which was popular with the critics, enjoyed a more successful run in France, with 218,000 admissions, than it did in Belgium, where the movie was nonetheless seen by 14,000 people.

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(Translated from French)

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