Flemish invasion at Palm Springs

A record-breaking four Flemish productions will be shown at the 2010 edition of the Palm Springs International Film Festival (5-18 January). The Over the Hill Band, which will be shown during the prestigious World Cinema Now Gala event, and My Queen Karo will both receive their US premieres at the festival, while Altiplano is to get its North American launch. The Misfortunates, which premiered in North America at the Toronto International Film Festival, is also selected for screening at Palm Springs.

Geoffrey Enthoven’s The Over the Hill Band, written by Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem and Chris Craps, features 70-year-old Claire, who sang in a band when she was younger. After many years, she again feels the urge to climb the stage and asks her son Sid to form a band together. Sid reluctantly agrees to join his mother and her crazy friends because he needs the money but he does set one condition… they will play his kind of music. Los Angeles-based Neo Classics is handling world rights. Producers are Van Rijckeghem and Dries Phlypo for A Private View. The film recently opened the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival and was awarded at the International Film Festival of Abitibi-Témiscamingue (31 October-5 November).

In Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth’s Altiplano, war photographer Grace, devastated after a violent incident in Iraq, renounces her profession. Her Belgian husband, Max, is a cataract surgeon working at an eye clinic in the high Andes of Peru. Nearby, the villagers of Turubamba succumb to illnesses caused by a mercury spill from a local mine. Saturnina, a young woman in Turubamba, loses her fiancé to the contamination. Ignorant of its true source, the villagers turn their rage on the foreign doctors, and in the ensuing riot Max is killed. Grace sets out on a journey of mourning to the place of Max’s death. Saturnina takes drastic measures to protest against the endless violations towards her people and her land. Grace and Saturnina’s destinies merge. Altiplano is a lyrical and probing film about our divided but inextricably linked world. The film received its world premiere as part of the Critic's Week selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

My Queen Karo centres around 10-year-old Karo, who is growing up with her parents in an Amsterdam commune in the Seventies. As an only child, she leads a carefree existence in this utopia-for-adults. The mandate says that everything is to be shared in the squat, but soon not everyone is able to honour these ideals. Karo is torn between her love for her mother and her loyalty towards her father and his ideals. She slowy realises that nothing can stay the same forever… Directed by Dorothée van den Berghe, and starring Anna Franziska Jaeger and Matthias Schoenaerts, My Queen Karo is produced by Caviar. The film received its world premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.

The Misfortunates, directed by Felix van Groeningen, focuses on 13-year-old Gunther Strobbe, who grows up surrounded by alcohol, trash and his completely useless father and uncles. Slowly but surely, he’s being prepared for the same hapless life. The film is already performing well on the international stage: it’s been selected as Belgium’s entry for the foreign language film category at the 82nd Oscars, it won three awards at both the Hamptons International Film Festival and the Cinessonne Festival of European Film and has been selected for screening at numerous international film festivals.

Palm Springs will host a total of 189 films from 70 countries, 76 of which are premieres. The Flemish productions join a diverse line-up of talented filmmakers. Festival director Darryl Macdonald commented: “Our film line-up this year is a strong reflection of the current zeitgeist in world cinema. Sixty-seven first-time feature film directors will screen this year, representing a surge of new filmmaking talent on the world stage.”

Helen du Toit, director of programming, expressed a similar sentiment but gave special mention to The Over the Hill Band: “This year’s selection boasts a wide range of genres… Some highlights from this year’s film selection include premieres such as Émile Gaudreault’s hilarious Father and Guns, Geoffrey Enthoven’s delightful The Over the Hill Band, Ounie Lecomte’s moving coming of age story A Brand New Life, and Robert Connolly’s gripping war drama The Balibo Conspiracy.”