20/10/2010

Love is in the air this week in Flanders… In these times of multi-polar crisis, director Jan Verheyen is inviting his (Flemish) compatriots to take refuge in movie theatres to forget Belgium’s gloomy atmosphere over a bucket of pop-corn.

Box office champion Verheyen, who turns out regular and diverse films (last year’s sequel to The Alzheimer Case [+see also:
trailer
film profile], The K File [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and social drama Cut Loose in 2008), didn’t think twice about recycling an idea that has doubly proved its worth. He thus presents Zot van A, a remake of Dutch film Love is All [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Dutch box office hit in 2007 with 1m admissions), which was already a sort of remake of global box office sensation Love Actually (almost $250m in takings in 2003).

We may wonder why he has chosen to do a remake of such a recent film, shot in the same language, but Flemish audiences have their reasons and Verheyen is certainly tuned into them. The cream of Flemish TV and film actors star in this romantic intrigue set in the streets of Antwerp.

Heading the bill is handsome young actor Kevin Janssens, who made his breakthrough on television and is set to burst onto the big screen this year (next he’ll appear in Hilde Van Mieghem’s Smoorverliefd, another expected hit to be released in December, followed by Frank Van Passel’s Madonna’s Pig in 2011). The cast also includes small-screen star Veerle Baetens (recently seen in Loft [+see also:
trailer
film profile]); luminous Barbara Sarafian (Moscow, Belgium [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]); and Koen de Graeve, who recently won a Vlaamse Entertainment Award and a Vlaamse Filmprijzen for his role in The Misfortunates [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen
film profile].

The film, produced by Peter Bouckaert for Eyeworks, is co-produced by VTM, with support from VAF, Bruxellimage and Tax Shelter. Kinepolis is launching it on an ambitious 30 print-run. Although Zot van A has a French title (Dingue de Twa) and even a website in French, it is not yet being released in Wallonia.

However, Francophone audiences will get to enjoy an ensemble film too, for Cinéart is releasing Guillaume Canet’s highly-anticipated new film Little White Lies [+see also:
trailer
film profile] on an equally ambitious 23-print run (including three in Flanders). This week’s line-up also includes Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Two Worlds War [+see also:
trailer
making of
interview: Luc Besson
film profile], launched by Belga Films on 55 screens.

(Translated from French)