Fien Troch’s Home was a clear winner at the eighth Gala of the Ensors, the local Academy Award equivalent. The film won Ensors for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Editing.

Other awards went to Le Ciel Flamand, King of the Belgians, Past Imperfect, My First Highway, Storm, Souvenir, The Prime Minister, Speechless, Shadow World, On attend, Kastaars, Ghost Rockers: For Ever, A Wedding and Brimstone.

Read more →

Read more →

Gilles Coulier’s debut feature Cargo has been selected for the First Features Competition at the London Film Festival (4–15 October). Two further features and three shorts from Flanders have also been invited.

Cargo tells the raw story of how an Ostend fishing family is brought to the edge of destruction by a series of dramatic events. The lead roles are played by Sam Louwyck, Wim Willaert and Sebastien Dewaele. In London, Cargo is competing for the Sutherland Trophy, the main prize in the First Features Competition.

Read more →

Erwin Provoost is to become the next CEO of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), it was announced by the organisation's Board. Provoost will succeed Pierre Drouot, who was appointed CEO in 2005.

In the early 1980s he created his own company, Multimedia (later MMG), which shook up the dormant Flemish film scene with movies such as Brussels by Night (1983), Istanbul (1985) and Crazy Love (1987). Besides winning artistic acclaim, Provoost was also responsible for some of the highest grossing domestic hits in Belgium.

Read more →

Flanders will be the guest of honour at this year’s edition of Cartoon Movie (8-10 March), Europe’s prime pitching and co-production platform for animated features. Some 10 animation producers from Flanders will present themselves during the event as the ‘Flandriens of Animation’. Three Flemish projects and five co-productions from Flanders will also be pitched at Cartoon Movie.

In total, 55 European projects have been invited to Cartoon Movie, which is being held in the city of Bordeaux this year. The event puts the spotlight on a specific region for the first time, with Flanders being granted the honours for this inaugural edition. Over the years, Flemish animation producers have played an important role in international co-productions, contributing to Oscar-nominated films such as The Triplets of Belleville, The Secret of Kells and A Cat in Paris. Flanders also has a strong record at Cartoon Movie, with companies like Grid Animation, Walking The Dog, nWave Pictures and Vivi Film all collecting Cartoon Movie Tributes as Producers of the Year.

Read more →

Cloudboy, Meikeminne Clinckspoor’s feature debut, is to receive its international première at this year’s TIFF Kids (7-23 April). The programme also contains Emiel Sandtke’s short Flying Rats, as well as two co-productions: The Day My Father Became a Bush and the animated feature Richard the Stork.

In Cloudboy, 12-year-old city boy Niilas has to travel - much against his will - to Lapland where his mother and her new family live amongst the Sami, an indigenous reindeer-herding people. A Belgian-Swedish-Norwegian-Dutch co-production, Cloudboy won last year’s Work-in-Progress Award at the inaugural edition of NeXT in Ghent.

Read more →

Juanita Onzaga’s documentary short The Jungle Knows You Better Than You Do has been selected for the Generation 14plus Competition at the Berlin International Film Festival (9-19 February). The animated feature Richard the Stork, which was co-produced with Flanders, also premiers in the Generation section.

Juanita Onzaga’s film, a cross between documentary and fiction, is set in Colombia, a country portrayed as a land of ghosts. The filmmaker follows her brother Pablo deep into the jungle in search of the spirit of their dead father. There, they uncover truths and attract unexpected company.

Read more →

Belgian director Wouter Bouvijn has been invited to the Arc 1950 Co-Production Village in Les Arcs where he will pitch his upcoming debut feature Escape. The festival has also announced its full line-up, which includes the animated short Catherine as well as some co-productions with Flanders. As previously announced, Fien Troch’s Home and Brosens and Woodworths’ King of the Belgians will also screen in Les Arcs.

Over three days, the Co-Production Village presents a selection of 20 European feature films in development to professionals interested in a financial or production participation. Among those invited this year is Wouter Bouvijn (Crossroads), who is currently preparing his debut feature Escape (fka (F)light).

Read more →

Kenneth Mercken’s short film Feel Sad for the Bunny has been selected for the Guanajuato International Film Festival in Mexico, where it is to have its international premiere as part of the Oscar-qualifying Short Film Competition. The festival line-up also includes D: 729., an animated short by Levi Stoops; and Johan Grimonprez’s documentary Shadow World, which was co-produced with Flanders.

Feel Sad For the Bunny follows 12-year-old Remy who lives with his older brother Bruno and their au pair, Mihaela. Despite the age difference, Remy has a secret crush on Mihaela. But things threaten to explode between the brothers when Bruno also takes an interest in her.

Read more →

Animation projects from Flanders will take centre stage during the first edition of the Flanders Animation Focus at this year’s International Animation Film Festival in Annecy. On 17 June, 11 Flemish producers will pitch their upcoming animation features and series to potential co-producers and buyers. The initiative reflects the ambition of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) to stimulate the production and international promotion of animation from Flanders.

The Flanders region boasts a wide variety of high-end animation studios and creative talent, resulting over the past few years in various nominations and prizes abroad. During the Flanders Animation Focus, 11 projects, both animation features and series, will be presented to potential co-producers, co-financers, buyers and distributors.

Read more →