The Shadow World

The Shadow World, a new feature project from Johan Grimonprez, will be the first to pitch at the IDFA Forum, the festival's co-production market. This is great for the producing team, but raises the stakes as well. “Johan already has the experience, but going first is still a bit nerve-wracking,” says Emmy Oost of Onomatopee Films, the director's regular producer in Belgium and co-producer of this project.

Grimonprez is as much an artist as a film director, best known for his highly creative treatment of archive images. In Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y he combined 1960s and 1970s news footage of plane hijackings with a disco soundtrack, while in Double Take he explored the iconic screen presence of Alfred Hitchcock.

Five documentaries as well as two projects from Flanders have been selected for this year’s 25th IDFA. The five docs are Rain by Gerard-Jan Claes and Olivia Rochette, The Sound of Belgium by Jozef Devillé, Expecting by Fabio Wuytack, Snake Dance by Manu Riche and Patrick Marnham, and The Wave by Sarah Vanagt and Katrien Vermeire. Projects from two Flemish documentary makers –The Shadow World by Johan Grimonprez and White Elephants by Kristof Bilsen – are also selected for the IDFA Forum.

Rain by Gerard-Jan Claes and Olivia Rochette features in the First Appearance competition and follows a ballet production from initial auditions right up to opening night. Producer is Bart Van Langendonck for Savage Film. In Expecting (pictured left), which is selected for the IDFA Panorama, director Fabio Wuytack portrays an Afghan-Kosovan refugee couple as they struggle through their daily lives. The Sound of Belgium by Jozef Devillé and produced by Visualantics is part of the Music Documentary competition and explores the rich, untold story of Belgian dance music.

Five documentaries from Flanders as well as five co-productions are selected for this year's 25th edition of IDFA (14-25 November). The five are: Rain by Gerard-Jan Claes and Olivia Rochette, The Sound of Belgium by Jozef Devillé, Expecting by Fabio Wuytack, Snake Dance by Manu Riche, and The Wave by Sarah Vanagt and Katrien Vermeire. Projects from two Flemish documentary makers, The Shadow World by Johan Grimonprez and White Elephants (working title) by Kristof Bilsen, can also be found in the IDFA.

Rain by Gerard-Jan Claes and Olivia Rochette features in the First Appearance competition for first documentaries. On 25 May 2011, the world-renowned Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris presented Rain, in its first ever performance by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Olivia Rochette and Gerard-Jan Claes followed the rehearsal process from the auditions to the opening performance. Producer is Bart Van Langendonck for Savage Film.

The Shadow World, Johan Grimonprez’s latest documentary project, received a development grant from the Sundance Institute. According to Sundance, the grant is just the beginning for the lucky filmmakers who will receive year-round creative support from the prestigious organisation.

Filmmaker and creative artist Grimonprez impressed internationally with his award-winning Double Take which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2009. His new docu feature, The Shadow World, explores the global arms industry: a business in which profits are calculated in the tens of millions of dollars, while losses are counted in human lives.