06/01/2009

The final figures for 2008 are not yet available, but last year was certainly a record one for Flemish film.

Erik Van Looy’s Loft [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – whose progress we have been following since its first weekend on release last October – has lived up to its promise. Having garnered 850,000 admissions by December 24, 2008, the film is the best-performing Flemish film of the past 15 years.

The title thus claims third position among the greatest Flemish hits of all time, behind Stijn Conincx’s Koko Flanel (1990, 1,082,000 viewers) and Hector (1987, 933,000), which centred on comic star Urbanus. Loft may not top the rankings but the audience figures are outstanding, given the competitive environment which has changed considerably since the 1990s, in particular with the advent of DVDs and downloading (legal or otherwise).

Another significant point is that the film has achieved this score without having been properly released yet in Wallonia. We can thus conclude that around one Flemish person in 7 has been to see the film.

And as good news always comes in pairs, other Flemish productions are also faring well. Christophe Van Rompaey’s Moscow, Belgium [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – which caused a stir at Cannes Critics’ Week – has garnered 180,000 admissions, even though its lead actors are relatively unknown. Meanwhile, Dennis Bots’ Anubis en het pad der 7 zonden [+see also:
trailer
film profile] has attracted 161,000 viewers, Bart van Leemputten’s Samson & Gert: Hotel op stelten 135,000 and Ben Stassen’s Fly Me to the Moon [+see also:
trailer
film profile] 107,000.

Moreover, the results are not yet known for films such as Piet Piraat [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Blinker en de Blixvaten and Christmas in Paris, which could well have boosted the overall score after the end-of-year holidays. Final figures reveal that Flemish films drew over 1,750,000 cinemagoers in 2008, compared to 1,250,000 in 2007, representing an increase of 40%.

(Translated from French)