Come As You Are

Four Flemish features have been selected for competition at the 29th Festroia International Film Festival in Portugal (7-16 June). Brasserie Romantique, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Offline and Time of My Life are all in the running to take home some prizes. This year, the festival has also organised a focus on Belgium and pays homage to Flemish actor Jan Decleir.

Both Joel Vanhoebrouck’s Brasserie Romantique and Felix van Groeningen’s The Broken Circle Breakdown screen as part of the fest’s official competition. Peter Monsaert’s directorial debut Offline is selected for the competitive First Works section, while Nic Baltazar is competing in the Man and His Environment category with Time of My Life.

Geoffrey Enthoven and Mariano Vanhoof's production hub Fobic Films has closed a deal with Berlin-based Films Boutique. The international sales agent is to represent Enthoven’s two upcoming features Half Way and Winnipeg, both scripted by Pierre De Clercq. Films Boutique also added Geoffrey Enthoven’s back catalogue produced for Fobic Films to its slate – Children of Love,The Only One and Happy Together.

Films Boutique had already handled international sales for Come As You Are, which has been sold to over 42 countries so far. Enthoven’s feature film about three disabled youngsters who, under the guise of a wine tour, embark on a journey to Spain hoping to get laid there, was awarded EFA’s People’s Choice Award last year.

At the close of the Ostend Film Festival (7 – 15 September 2012) the Flemish film industry gathered in Ostend for the third annual Flemish Film Awards, now called the ‘Ensors’. Nic Balthazar’s Time of My Life, Nicolas Provost’s The Invader and Frank Van Mechelen’s Germaine were the winners of the evening with three or more Awards. This edition also saw the introduction of a number of new awards such as Best Documentary (Epilogue).

Time of my life (pictured on the left) won the awards for Best feature, Best actor in a leading role (Geert Van Rampelberg) and Best Editing (Philippe Ravoet). Based on a true story, Time of My Life is the story of MS-patient  Mario Verstraete who was not only instrumental in legalising euthanasia in Belgium… but was also the first to make use of that new law. Peter Bouckaert produced the film for Eyeworks Film & TV Drama.

Geoffrey Enthoven’s Come As You Are (aka Hasta la vista) has won the People’s Choice Award at the 25th edition of the European Film Awards in Malta. Written by Pierre De Clercq and produced by Mariano Vanhoof, the film outran no less than 11 European heavyweights such as The Artist, Untouchable and The Iron Lady. Film lovers from all over Europe chose the winner of the People’s Choice Award.

From 1 to 31 October, European film fans were asked to elect one of the 12 films nominated for EFA’s People’s Choice Award via various European print and online media.

Geoffrey Enthoven’s Come As You Are is one of 47 features shortlisted for this year’s European Film Awards. Joachim Lafosse’s Our Children and Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone, two co-productions with Flanders, also made the cut. Earlier this month the European Film Academy (EFA) nominated Come As You Are for its People’s Choice Award. This year’s EFA Award Ceremony takes place in Malta on 1 December.

Come nomination time, we might also see rising star Matthias Schoenaerts nominated for Best Actor for his performance in Jacques Audiard’s shortlisted Rust and Bone. The actor recently featured in a NY Times article about breakout actors of the new season: “His unorthodox romantic lead role in Rust and Bone… makes another persuasive case for the strapping, sad-eyed Mr Schoenaerts as the most versatile beefcake actor of our time… Mr Schoenaerts, a 34-year-old Belgian, speaks fluent English and seems poised for an American crossover. Here’s hoping Hollywood knows what to do with an anti-superhero.”