To round off its first full year of operations, the screen.brussels fund has selected eight projects (fiction films, documentaries and television series), supporting the audiovisual sector in the Brussels-Capital Region. With Brussels producers in the spotlight, experienced or promising actors and directors, technicians employed, the order books of service providers and post-production companies filled, here are the complete results of Session 5.
Seven feature films, including one documentary
Adoration
Produced by Panique! (Saint-Gilles). After The Ordeal and Alleluia, Fabrice du Welz (Brussels) rounds off his trilogy by exploring the extreme territories of the human soul through extraordinary characters. Paul, 12, lives alone with his mother, a cleaner at a private clinic in the middle of a forest. One day, Gloria, a schizophrenic teenager shows up, and Paul falls in love with her, deciding to help her escape at all costs. The cast features some usual suspects, including Benoît Poelvoorde, Fantine Harduin and Peter Van Den Begin (Belgium), and Emmanuelle Béart and Béatrice Dalle (France). The film employs a crew almost entirely led by people from Brussels (director, director of photography, editor, production designer, wardrobe, etc.), almost 21 people in all. The film editing will be done by Alea Jacta (Saint-Gilles) and the sound recording by Studio l’Équipe (Evere).
Convoi exceptionnel
Produced by Versus Productions (Liège). The latest film by Bertrand Blier (Going Places, Buffet froid, Tenue de soirée) will have an exceptional cast, bringing together for 35 days of shooting in Brussels Gérard Depardieu, Christian Clavier and Édouard Baer, among others. The arthouse screenwriter and director presents us with a crazy film where a man meets the person who owns the script to his life. Has everything already been written? For this unnerving story, some 30 people have been employed, and we can also count on the expertise of TSF (Schaerbeek), Studio l’Équipe (Evere), Boxon (Ixelles), ADN Studio (Schaerbeek) and Mikros (Schaerbeek).
Continuer
Produced by Prime Time (Molenbeek). Adapting the novel of the same name by Laurent Mauvigner with Thomas van Zuylen (Brussels), Joachim Lafosse (À perdre la raison, Les chevaliers blancs, L’économie du couple) directs a film that transports us in every sense of the word. Between riding on the plains of Kyrgyzstan and the inner journey of Sybille’s broken relationship with her son Samuel, Continuer brings together more than 20 Brussels technicians, including composer Raf Keunen (Racer and the Jailbird, Bullhead, etc.). The cast features the duo of Virginie Efira (Victoria, Une famille à louer) and Kacey Mottet Klein (Keeper). As well, both Eye Lite and KGS (Schaerbeek) will join the crew on location in Morocco, while the entire post-production sound will be done at Studio L’Équipe (Evere).
Horse Boy
Produced by Beluga Tree (Brussels). Based on an autobiographical novel of the same name, the true story of Rupert Isaacson, Horse Boy follows the quest of a couple trying to help their autistic son. A story of love and courage that takes us from London to Mongolia, this film is directed by Ari Folman (Waltz with Bachir, The Congress), bringing together a prestigious international cast, including Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour, Kursk, It’s Only the End of the World). It employs 26 technicians and benefits from the support of Eye Lite and KGS (Schaerbeek) for the equipment and machinery, and all the production and post-production sound with Boxon (Ixelles), Studio l’Équipe (Evere) and Caviar (Brussels), and Mikros (Schaerbeek) for the visual special effects.
Le suicide d’Emma Peeters
Produced by Take Five (Saint-Gilles). Emma wanted to become an actor, but despite her efforts and talent, she never succeeded. She then decides to take her own life on her 35th birthday. That is when she meets Alex, a funeral home employee, a meeting that will bring surprises and doubts. The film is directed by Nicole Palo (Brussels), with Brussels actors playing a number of supporting roles, including Stéphanie Crayencour and Jean-Henri Compère. For this first feature film by the young Brussels producers from Take Five, there will be 29 days of shooting in the capital, 30 technicians and the companies KGS and Eye Lite (Schaerbeek) for the equipment and machinery, Tabass Co (Uccle), Squarefish (Molenbeek) for the animation and the visual special effects, and Cinélab (Brussels) for the laboratory.
Sideline
Produced by Visualantics Productions (Brussels). Every year, about 15,000 African football players arrive in Europe with the dream of joining a top European football club. However, for most of them, this dream will never become a reality. For 75 minutes, the documentary follows a handful of these forlorn dreamers to the places where they practice, pitches on the outskirts of major cities like Antwerp and Brussels. The entire production of the project is taking place in Brussels, employing five technicians and companies such as De MontageWinkel (Brussels) for editing, Mikros (Schaerbeek) for post-production images and Chocolat Noisette (Brussels) for sound.
… and two television series
Daddy or Mommy
Produced by Nexus Factory (Forest). After a double success in the cinema, here’s a spinoff of Daddy or Mommy made for television. In all, six 52-minute episodes of plot twists and ingenious traps follow a mediation procedure imposed to avoid a divorce. With almost all the filming (76 days) done in Brussels, some 30 technicians and a plethora of Brussels actors in the cast (Tania Garbarski, Serge Larivière, Jean-Henri Compère, Hugo Gonzales and more), this French-Belgian series will have a serious Brussels touch to it. The production will count on the teams from TSF (Schaerbeek), Cinétech (Ixelles) and Audiosense (Evere) for the equipment, Backstage (Schaerbeek) for editing and UFX (Ixelles) for special effects, and Studio l’Équipe (Evere), Rec’n Roll (Schaerbeek) and Boxon (Ixelles) for post-production sound.
Public Enemy 2
Produced by Entre Chien et Loup (Schaerbeek). This is the long-awaited second season of a Belgian series which has already hooked millions of viewers and become popular beyond Belgium. Chloé is an inspector who works begrudgingly for the federal police, and Guy Béranger is a child murderer whose conditional release kicked off the adventures of the first season, with the Abbey of Vielsart as a backdrop. The creative trio from Season One is made up of Gary Seghers (Wallonia), Matthieu Frances and Gilles De Voghel (Brussels). The latter directs while the other two handle the 100% Brussels writers’ room with Christopher Yates, Frédéric Castadot and Antoine Bours. The cast sees the return of Angelo Bison (Guy Béranger), Clément Manuel (Lucas) and other Brussels actors from the first season. There will be 10 days of filming in the capital, 24 artists and technicians employed, and the support of Equinoxe (Anderlecht) for equipment, Boxon (Ixelles) for sound editing and mixing, and Rec’n Roll (Schaerbeek) for the Foley effects.
Brussels producers in the spotlight
Out of the eight projects selected, seven have been produced by Brussels companies. As for directing, there are four Brussels artists behind the camera: Nicole Palo (Le suicide d’Emma Peeters), Matthieu Frances and Gilles De Voghel (Public Enemy 2) and Fabrice du Welz (Adoration), without counting the numerous technicians, screenwriters, managers and actors.
Worthy investment for the capital
In total, project investments have amounted to € 1,065,000. This should generate eight times more spending, for an average return of 807%. In addition, six of these projects qualify as mainly Belgian productions, with more than 50% of financing coming from our country.
