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First Run wins race for Altiplano

US distributor First Run Features has acquired the North-American rights to Brosens & Woodworth’s second feature, Altiplano. The film which premiered in Cannes last year has already been sold to a number of European countries and Australia. After selections at film festivals such as Cannes, Sydney and Bangkok as well as a healthy box office in its home turf, Altiplano continues to charm audiences around the globe.

Lost Persons Area best debut feature at Cinequest

Caroline Strubbe’s Lost Persons Area has been honoured as Best Debut Feature at this year’s 20th anniversary edition of Cinequest (23 February-7 March) in San José. The film, which won the SACD Best Script Award at last year's International Critic's Week in Cannes, was selected for the fest’s Inspire programme.

Double Take closes MoMa’s Documentary Fortnight

Johan Grimonprez’s Double Take has been selected as tonight’s (3 March) closing night attraction at this year’s MoMa’s Documentary Fortnight.

Dirty Mind strikes again

Pieter Van Hees’ Dirty Mind has been invited to the Funchal International Film Festival (10-17 April) in Madeira, Portugal. The film has already been selected for other international festivals, including Karlovy Vary and the Fantastic Fest in Texas.

S&M Judge takes Cinekink Audience Choice Award

Erik Lamens' feature debut S&M Judge has grabbed the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Film at this year's seventh CineKink festival in New York (16-21 February). Receiving its US premiere at the fest, the film registered the highest score ever at CineKink.

Brendan up for Oscar Gold

Tomm Moore's The Secret of Kells (Brendan and the Secret of Kells) has been nominated for Best Animated Feature for the 82nd Academy Awards. An Irish-French-Belgian co-production, the Flemish co-producer is Viviane Vanfleteren for Vivi Film. Also involved is Brussels-based animation studio Walking The Dog. This year's nominations include films such as Fantastic Mr Fox and Coraline.

The Works takes Dossier K international rights

The Works International has acquired international rights to Jan Verheyen’s Dossier K. (The K-file). The film is the long-awaited follow-up to the successful Memory of a Killer, which travelled worldwide and which was also handled by The Works. The UK-based sales company will be launching Dossier K. at the Berlinale as a market premiere.

A touch of Flanders in IFFR selection

This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (27 January-7 February) features a number of new and recent productions from Flanders. The fest’s Cinemart co-production platform selected Patrice Toye’s new project to be presented to key film financiers, sales agents, buyers and commissioning editors from around the globe. Newcomer Xavier Rombauts of Emeral Films has been selected for the Rotterdam Lab in which young producers get a networking crash course.

S&M judge opens CineKink

S&M Judge is to open the seventh CineKink film festival in New York (16-21 February). The award-winning drama, which will also be making its US premiere at the festival, is also in the running for the Audience Choice Award.

Van Nuffel’s Oxygen starts shooting

Principal photography has begun on Hans Van Nuffel’s feature film debut, Oxygen (Adem). Written by Van Nuffel and Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem (Moscow, Belgium, The Over the Hill Band), the drama relates the life and loves of two cystic fibrosis patients during their hospital stays.

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.

Berlinale recognises Flemish shorts revival

Three Flemish shorts have been selected for the 60th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Venus vs Me by Nathalie Teirlinck and Long Live the New Flesh by Nicolas Provost made it to the Berlinale Shorts, where they are competing for the prestigious Golden Bear. Siemiany by Philip James McGoldrick has been selected for the Generation 14plus programme and is competing for the Crystal Bear against 11 others, including Spike Jonze with his new short, I’m here.