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Flanders quartet triumphs at Festroia
Four films from Flanders were presented with prizes during the awards ceremony of the Festroia International Film Festival in Portugal (7-16 June). Felix van Groeningen took home three awards for The Broken Circle Breakdown, while Joël Vanhoebrouck’s Brasserie Romantique, Peter Monsaert’s Offline and the short film Dura Lex by Anke Blondé were all awarded as well.
Van Groeningen’s intense drama The Broken Circle Breakdown not only won the Gold Dolphin for Best Film, but also took home the film critics’ FIPRESCI Prize as well as the SIGNIS Prize, awarded by the worldwide association of Catholic communication professionals.
Norman wins Best Debut in Annecy
Robbe Vervaeke’s highly expressive animated Short Norman has won the Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for Best Debut at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (10-15 June). Norman, produced by Cinnemon Entertainment, is Vervaeke’s first professional film after graduating from the royal academy of fine arts in Ghent in 2008.
Norman takes place in a city filled with old, statuesque buildings, with dark shadows and weathered trees. In this city lives Norman, a thickset, shapeless and pale-faced man. He’s obsessed by observing and staring at people. Read more on Norman in the profile from our flanders (i) magazine.
Screen Flanders distributes €5 million among 20 productions
Minister-President of Flanders Kris Peeters presented the list of 20 productions that are to receive support through Screen Flanders, the new economic fund in Flanders. A total amount of €4,995,000 ($6,678,685) is to be distributed in the fund's inaugural call. Another €5million will be divided among applicants in both remaining calls in June and end of October.
The first call for Screen Flanders ended on 28 February 2013 after which a jury selected the projects. A total of €4,995,000 ($6,678,685) is distributed among 20 productions, amounts varying between €100.000 ($133,700) en €400.000 ($535,000) per project. Support went to 10 live-action features, six animated features, three animated series and one live-action series.
The War of the Roses unfolds on BBC One
June 16 marks the start of the ten-part drama series The White Queen on BBC One. Set against the backdrop of the War of the Roses, the historical series is shot on location in Flanders with the city of Bruges as one of the main sets. Playing the lead roles are Rebecca Ferguson, Janet McTeer, Amanda Hale and Max Irons. Also appearing in the series is The Broken Circle Breakdown-star Veerle Baetens.
Based on Philippa Gregory’s bestselling novel ‘The Cousin’s War’, The White Queen tells the story of three ambitious women at the English court in the 15th century; Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Anne Neville. What ties these women together is that they are equally ruthless in their quest for the seat of power. They will stop at nothing to support their own causes and those of the ones they love.
Kid in competition at Paris Cinéma
Kid, Fien Troch’s third feature, has been selected for official competition at Paris Cinéma (28 June- 9 July). This year the Parisian summer festival puts the spotlight on Belgian cinema with numerous selections and retrospectives of its films and filmmakers.
Fien Troch’s Kid is running in official competition at Paris Cinéma. The film, produced by Antonino Lombardo for Prime Time, already screened at festivals in Rome, Palm Springs and Aubagne earlier this year.
Millennium Doc Festival takes Emergency Exit
Lieven Corthouts' new project, Emergency Exit, grabbed two awards at the 4th edition of the Millennium International Documentary Film Festival (31 May – 9 June). Corthouts' web documentary won both the Best Pitching Award, worth € 2,500, and Le Soir Award which ensures the documentary will be broadcast on the Le Soir website.
Corthouts' creative documentary and web project was selected out of 38 entries and eventually competed with five other web documentaries during the Pitching Competition. Corthouts already proved himself as a promising director with his previous documentary Little Heaven which was selected for IDFA 2011 and the Berlinale Talent Campus.
Rockie Awards for Quiz Me Quick and What If? at BANFF
Flemish television series Quiz Me Quick and What If? grabbed three Rockie Awards in total at the Canadian BANFF World Media Festival (9-12 June). Quiz Me Quick won the Rockie Award in both the 'Best Sitcom' and 'Best of Entertainment' category, while What If? took home the Rockie Award for Best Comedy and a Special Mention in the 'Best of Entertainment' category.
Quiz Me Quick is doing well abroad. After its selection for the prestigious Séries Mania in Paris, the ten-part series can now also put two prestigious Rockie Awards on its resumee. In the Sitcoms section, Quiz Me Quick was up against three other sitcoms from Canada, the UK and the United States.
Leiden knows what love is
Leni Huyghe’s short Do You Know What Love Is grabbed the Jury Award for Best Film at the 5th edition of the Leiden International Short Film Experience (1 – 8 June). Also selected for Official Competition at the fest were Tom Van Avermaet’s Death of a Shadow, Marc James Roels and Emma De Swaef’s Oh Willy… and Nightfall by Niels Sabbe.
Do You Know What Love Is is a portrait of a generation with too many choices, too many ways to communicate, too much stuff. Do they know what love is?
Crossroads collects Bronze Medal at Student Academy Awards
Wouter Bouvijn’s short film Crossroads has been awarded the Bronze Medal at the 2013 Student Academy Awards. The official ceremony took place last night in Los Angeles after a week of industry and networking events, which the young director attended. It’s the first time in the history of the Student Academy Awards that a student film submitted by a Flemish film school brings home a medal.
Half May, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) announced all finalists for the Student Academy Award, including Wouter Bouvijn’s Crossroads as one of the three contenders for the Foreign Film Award. Eventually, Bouvijn took home the Bronze Medal worth $2,000.
Felix shines at Karlovy Vary and Paris Cinéma
Felix van Groeningen has been named as one of Variety’s 10 Euro Directors To Watch, the US entertainment trade magazine's annual list of up-and-coming directors who they’ve tipped for the top, which are presented as part of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at the end of June. This honour comes as Paris Cinéma (28 June-9 July) focuses on Van Groeningen by screening his entire oeuvre. Tribeca Film recently acquired all US rights for The Broken Circle Breakdown and will release the film later this year in American theatres.
Every year, Variety critics select their 10 most promising European directors. Drawing their attention with his latest feature The Broken Circle Breakdown, Flemish director Felix van Groeningen was chosen as one of them. All nominated films and directors will be presented in a special section during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at the end of June.