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Subscribe to the RSS feedFantasporto features four filmmakers from Flanders
The 32nd Oporto International Film Festival (24 Febr – 3 March) has invited works from no less than four Flemish filmmakers for its line-up. Frank van Passel’s Madonna’s Pig, Jakob Verbruggen’s Code 37, Nuru, a short by Michael Palmaers, and Christophe Van Rompaey's Lena have been selected for Fest.
Code 37 became an instant box office hit in its home territory when released last fall. The film was running alongside Madonna’s Pig and Geoffrey Enthoven’s Come As You Are in theatres and together the films even managed to register over 80,000 admissions during one weekend. The film is to receive its market première at this year's European Film Market in Berlin. Code 37 director Jakob Verbruggen is now also set to direct the BBC mini-series The Fall, written by the BAFTA nominated Alan Cubitt.
Clermont-Ferrand selects shorts from Flanders
The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (27 January-4 February) has selected Nicolas Provost’s Moving Stories, Michael Palmaers’s Nuru and Marc Roels and Emma de Swaef’s Oh Willy for its 34th edition. The minority co-production The Monster of Nix by Dutch artist Rosto also received a spot in the fest’s programme. According to the fest, ‘a selection for Clermont-Ferrand is participating in the biggest adventure a film can experience.’ The selections at the prestigious French short fest once again put shorts from Flanders in the international limelight.
Provost is now something of an old hand at Clermont-Ferrand after picking up a Special Jury Award for his short Plot Point in 2008. Last year, the festival even presented an overview of Provost’s major works and invited two of his shorts, Stardust and Storyteller, for competition.
Short Cinema celebrated at Leuven Short Fest
The 17th edition of the Leuven International Short Film Festival (3-10 December) again highlights talented short cinema from Flanders. With a strong Flemish short film competition, the VAF Wildcards and a number of professional activities, Leuven is for a short time the epicenter of short cinema in Flanders.
2011 has been a strong year for Flemish shorts with the Cannes Jury Award for Wannes Destoop’s Swimsuit 46 and the Grand Prize in Valladolid for Kevin Meul’s The Extraordinary Life of Rocky. Now the IKL fest has selected 20 short films from promising directors who may give us a new wave of international Awards in the future.
Anima presents Flemish shorts and C.A.S.P.E.R.
Anima, the Brussels International Animated Film Festival, which runs from 4-13 March, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The festival offers a wide variety of animation fare: 118 shorts and 12 features from all over the world will be shown at the festival. Anima 2011 will also welcome key players such as Michel Ocelot, Bill Plympton and Peter Lord. 
Most of the animation selected from Flanders comes from recently graduated animators. Among them is Mouse For Sale, the winner of the first VAF Wildcard for Animation. Director Wouter Bongaerts studied at the Media & Design Academy of Genk. His internships during his last year offered him new insights into 3D animation, leading to the heart-warming short of a mouse in a pet shop, and a potential buyer. dANCE, an animated short by Wouter Sel, will premiere at Anima 2011. It portrays a graphic choreography which evokes the rise and fall of two different clans. This production is supported by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), among others.