26/09/2007

Belgian film director and journalist Nic Balthazar’s feature debut Ben X [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nic Balthazar
interview: Peter Bouckaert
film profile] opens today in 24 cinemas in Flanders and Brussels through Kinepolis Film. The film has a same-day release in French-speaking Belgium as over the border in France, where distribution is being handled by Océan Films.

Sold internationally by Films Distribution and produced by Peter Bouckaert for MMG Film & TV Production (see interview ), the feature debut recounts the difficulties faced by an autistic teenage boy as he is bullied by his schoolmates. The film went down very well at Montreal (see news ) and at home, where it was recently chosen as Belgium’s nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar shortlist (see news).

This week’s seven other releases include Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which stars Simon Pegg and is the British comedy of the week.

From the slate of Working Title Films – who has produced a string of successes, from Four Weddings and a Funeral to Mr Bean’s Holiday and Bridget Jones – in co-production with Big Talk Production, Hot Fuzz is also a joint French production, financed by Studio Canal. UPI is opening the film in 26 cinemas nationwide.

Two Gallic titles find their way to French-speaking cinemas: Jan Kounen’s 99F [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Jean Dujardin in an adaptation of Frédéric Beigbeder’s best-selling novel, distributed by Alternative Films, and Laurent Bouhnik’s L’invité (“The Guest”), on release through Belga Film in 28 cinemas.

Distributed by the Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, the last European release of the week is Belle Toujours [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see article) by Portuguese veteran Manoel De Oliveira, who offers a follow-up to the Buñuel classic.

(Translated from French)