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RELEASES Belgium

Faits Divers goes from TV to silver screen

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The Faits Divers (“Crime Stories”) TV dramas – launched by VTM and VAF in 2005 – keep spawning film versions. A look at the results for the latest features released in theatres shows why.

During the first season, Hans Herbots’s Verlengd Weekend and Frank Van Mechelen’s De Hel van Tanger attracted over 300,000 viewers between them. Meanwhile, the second series provided the inspiration for Christophe Van Rompaey’s Moscow, Belgium [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which was unveiled at Cannes and enjoyed immense success at the box office.

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This week sees the timely release of another film based on the series: SM Rechter, inspired by a crime story that caused a stir in the legal community in Belgium in the late 1990s.

A judge was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for deliberate assault and abuse and incitement to debauchery, after being found guilty of having allowed his wife to act the role of a slave in sadomasochism clubs.

Director Erik Lamens drew inspiration from this story for his debut feature. The Caviar Films production is being released on 19 screens by Kinepolis.

Fans of European film will be spoiled for choice in Belgian theatres, starting with two festival discoveries. Delta [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kornél Mundruczó
interview: Orsi Tóth
film profile
]
, by Hungary’s Kornel Mundruczo – the youngest director in competition at last year’s Cannes Festival – won over critics on the Croisette. The film will, however, have difficulty conquering Belgian audiences, given its limited release on only two screens.

Meanwhile, UK director John Crowley’s Boy A [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– unveiled in the Panorama section at the 2008 Berlinale – will try to win over viewers. The film is being released by ABC Distribution on nine screens.

Moreover, an impressive trio of French titles is hitting screens. Among them are two films by women directors: The Actress’ Ball [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Maïwenn and Agnès Varda’s The Beaches of Agnes [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
.

Finally, this week’s major Gallic release is Bellamy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which marks the first collaboration between director Claude Chabrol and actor Gérard Depardieu. Despite its enticing cast, the film is being launched by Coopérative Nouveau Cinéma on only five prints (compared to The Actress’ Ball’s eight).

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(Translated from French)

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