Close to 2 million admissions for Flemish cinema

Well over 1.9 million cinemagoers went to see a Flemish production in Belgium last year. With these box office numbers, Flemish films managed to hold their ground compared to 2008, when all records were broken thanks to one film: Loft. The number-one champ for 2009 is Felix van Groeningen’s The Misfortunates, with over 425,000 admissions, followed by Dossier K. and The Secret of Mega Mindy.

It was generally assumed that box office numbers for Flemish films would drop significantly in 2009 in comparison with 2008, when numbers were boosted by the huge success of Loft. Had it not been for the harsh weather conditions at the end of 2009, the 2 million admission mark would even have been broken.

Despite all the negative projections, 2009 managed to maintain the same level of box office admissions. Instead of one monster hit, 2009 saw several hit films, with Felix van Groeningen’s The Misfortunates on top. By 31 December, the film already had 425,000 admissions. It was followed by Dossier K (220,788* on 31 December), The Secret of Mega Mindy (184,335), S&M Judge (120,105) and Flemish co-production The Barons** (108.899*). Further down the top 10 we find Luke and Lucy & The Texas Rangers (100,147), Plop en de kabouterbaby (99,725*), The Over the Hill Band (82,888*), Soeur Sourire** (73,476) and Anubis en de wraak van Arghus (66,302*). Loft, which was released in October 2008, still managed to attract over 250,000 visitors in 2009.

This means that the market share for Flemish cinema in Belgium once again managed to get close to 10%, a figure which was only reached for the first time in 2008. For the region of Flanders alone, the market share was probably more like something between 15% and 20%. Flemish film also enjoyed attention in other media. For example, the airing of Moscow, Belgium on Belgian channel vtm attracted over 1 million viewers. Naturally the rising popularity of Flemish cinema also has less welcome consequences, such as the rise in illegal downloads and DVD piracy of these films in Belgium and abroad. It is impossible to give an accurate picture of the financial loss to the sector because of these illegal practices, but it is safe to say that it is a considerable sum.  

On the international stage, France discovered Flemish cinema in 2009. In May, a record number of three Flemish films were selected for Cannes: The Misfortunates was shown in Director’s fortnight and both Altiplano and Lost Persons Area were selected for Critic’s Week. Further good news was the two awards for Dirty Mind in Bordeaux, and the selection of My Queen Karo and The Misfortunates for the festival of Les Arcs. Finally, The Misfortunates was released in France on 30 December. Over 35,000 people went to see the film in its first week and the French press unanimously praised the film. In Les Cahiers du Cinéma, Thierry Méranger even spoke of ‘the international coming of age of Flemish cinema’. Le Monde opened its culture section with the headline ‘The regained pride of Flemish cinema in Belgium.’ In the coming months, several French film festivals have also programmed new Flemish productions. Films such as Lost Persons Area have also found a French distributor and will be released in French cinemas this year. 

France wasn’t the only country to embrace Flemish films last year. Further abroad, top festivals also selected and awarded Flemish films. These festivals included Berlin (Double Take, Brendan and the Secret of Kells, and the short film, Kain), Montreal (The Over the Hill Band, S&M Judge and documentary Looking for Dragone), Toronto (My Queen Karo and The Misfortunates). Finally, many films such as The Misfortunates, Double Take and The Over the Hill Band sold internationally as well.

Looking ahead, 2010 offers a wide variety of Flemish productions. Early February will see the release of Hans Herbot’s Bo (based on Dirk Bracke's book, Angel House). This will be followed by Wolf by Rik Daniëls in March. Later on, 22 May, the much anticipated second feature by Koen Mortier (Ex Drummer), will be in cinemas as well.

There are also a number of interesting feature debuts coming up, such as Oxygen by Hans van Nuffel, TurQuaze by Kadir Balci, the 3D animation film Around the World in 50 years by Ben Stassen, Pulsar by Alex Stockman and Beyond the Steppes by Vanja d’Alcantara. There are also the romantic comedies Oh No! It’s a Woman by Hilde Van Mieghem, and Crazy about U. by Jan Verheyen.

Like 2009, 2010 will feature a healthy number of feature debuts by young talent. This year might also mark the beginning of the short film revival, with new talent presenting a number of fascinating shorts, such as Nathalie Teirlinck’s Venus vs Me, Philip James McGoldrick’s Siemiany, Nico Leunen’s Afterday.

*  Films that were still running in cinemas on 31/12/2009
** Minority co-production with Flanders (and recognised as a Flemish film)

Notes on the box office numbers

• Flanders Image wishes to point out that the results presented here are based on box office numbers from 1 January-31 December 2009.
• As always, the calculations also take into account results from 2009 of (co)productions released before 1 January 2009.
• Calculations were made based on figures provided by the individual distributors and producers.
• Market share is based on estimations of the total box office numbers for Belgium and Flanders.
• Studio 100 productions, such as The Secret of Mega Mindy, Plop en de kabouterbaby and Anubis and the Revenge of Arghus were not supported by the Flemish Audiovisual Fund.