30/10/2008

Everyone knows that good news comes in pairs and Flemish directors would certainly agree. While Erik Van Looy’s second film Loft [+see also:
trailer
film profile] takes the Belgian box office by storm, Moscow, Belgium [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] is setting out to conquer foreign markets.

Having attracted almost 200,000 Belgian viewers (or rather Flemish), the romantic comedy by Christophe Van Rompaey (see interview) continues to win over audiences in Holland and Germany.

Launched in Holland on October 2 by RCV Film Distribution, the film has already amassed over 10,000 admissions. These positive figures mark the best performance by a Flemish film for adults since Stijn Coninx’s Priest Daens (1993). Indeed, major popular and critical hits such as Ben X [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nic Balthazar
interview: Peter Bouckaert
film profile] (2007) and The Alzheimer Case [+see also:
trailer
film profile] only attracted 5,500 and 7,000 Dutch viewers respectively.

It should be noted that children’s films co-produced by Belgium and the Netherlands enjoy immense success in Holland, for example the K3 series.

Moscow, Belgium won Variety’s New Talent Award at the Zurich Film Festival at the start of October. Along with the enthusiastic press reception, this prize has surely contributed to the excellent results achieved by the film at the German box office. Released by Senator Film in over 50 theatres on October 16, Neulich in Belgien (German title), has drawn over 20,000 cinemagoers.

Bac Films are preparing the French release, which should be boosted by the warm reaction received by the film at its Cannes Critics’ Week screening in May. The film scooped three awards at the festival: the Grand Golden Rail, the SACD Prize for Best Screenplay and the ACID Award. Moscow, Belgium will be launched in France on November 19 under its international title.

UK audiences will have to wait until February 13, 2009, when the film will be released by Halcyon Pictures. The title was released on DVD in the Netherlands in early September. Meanwhile, viewers in Wallonia are still awaiting its theatrical release.

(Translated from French)