Ben X in Generation 14plus competition
The story of a young, mildly autistic teenager teased by his friends, Nic Balthazar’s debut feature Ben X [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nic Balthazar
interview: Peter Bouckaert
film profile] has just been selected for the Berlin International Film Festival, where it will screen in the Generation 14plus section.
Screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the film won another prize on Sunday: the Heineken Red Star Award, presented to a film that showcases exceptionally original work, and thus recognises Ben X‘s startling and successful combination of conventional video images and virtual images (see news).
A huge success in Flanders, Ben X was the highest grossing hit at the Belgian box office last year with 250,000 admissions.
Sold internationally by Films Distribution, the film is set for release in France on February 20, distributed by Océan Films; in Greece (Filmtrade) in March; in Spain (Isaan Entertainment) and Germany (Kinowelt) in May; in Switzerland (Agora) in September as well as in the UK (Alliance Atlantis), Austria (Filmladen) and Finland (Oy Future Film).
Distribution rights have also been bought for Canada, Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Salvador and Uruguay), Israel, New Zealand and Australia.
As for the US, Balthazar will work on an adaptation of his film that he is set to direct himself, to be co-produced by MMG Production and Wamerica (the US-based production company headed by France’s Alain Chabat) for a budget of between $8-12m.
(Translated from French)
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