Two major Flemish productions, Germaine and Time of My Life, have been boosted by a slew of positive news and numbers. Both films are based on true stories and have succeeded in catching the attention of media and public alike. Nic Balthazar’sTime of My Life was receveid enthusiastically at Berlin's EFM, while Frank Van Mechelen's Germaine has proven itself as a true box-office hit.
Films Distribution, international sales agent of Balthazar’s second feature Time of My Life, confirmed that the film drew a great deal of attention at Berlin’s European Film Market. Towards the end of March, Time of My Life will be released in The Netherlands, Luxemburg and the French-speaking region of Belgium. Time of My Life has already managed to claim two major festival awards: the Audience Award for Best Film at both the RamDam Festival and The End Festival in Amsterdam. The film was also honoured with a special mention from the jury at the prestigious Rome Film Festival.
Time of My Life tells the true tale of Mario Verstraete, a major advocate for the decriminalisation of euthanasia in Belgium. As a young man, Verstraete was diagnosed with Multiple Scleroses. Unwilling to see himself pine away under this fatal disease, he decides to devote himself to granting all human beings the opportunity of a dignified life’s end. Time of My Life is, however, a story about life and friendship, about a man and those who love him. The film stars Koen De Graeve, Lotte Pinoy, Iwein Segers and Viviane De Muynck. The production was headed by Peter Bouckaert for Eyeworks Film & TV Drama, in co-production with Flinck Film and Entre Chien & Loup.
Germaine, by director Frank Van Mechelen, has firmly caught the eye of the Flemish public. In the six weeks since the movie was released, it has drawn 150,000 viewers to the cinema and a number of theatres even have the movie in their top five best attended films. Germaine has proven to be popular with both young and old and is still running in 27 theatres in Flanders and Brussels.
Germaine is Van Mechelen’s third feature and now claims its place among the top 10 best-viewed films in Flemish cinemas. Van Mechelen initially came under the spotlight with his two features The Intruder, starring Koen De Bouw, and Hell in Tangier, with Filip Peeters in the leading role. Germaine is an adaptation of a play by Walter Van Den Broeck and was released on 14 December. The movie stars a top-line cast including Evelien Bosmans, Stany Crets and Clara Cleymans.
The movie tells the true story of a group of factory workers who decide to defy their employers and their union representatives by calling an outlaw strike. Germaine is the 18-year-old daughter of one of the workers. She still lives at home and has a day-time job at the local supermarket. However, after-hours, she dreams of a better life. Germaine was produced by Eric Wirix for Skyline Entertainment (Luke and Lucy & the Texas Rangers, Santa’s Magic Crystal).