23/08/2007

Belgian films feature in all categories of the World Film Festival (August 23-September 2).

The competition section will host Nic Balthazar’s feature debut, Ben X [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nic Balthazar
interview: Peter Bouckaert
film profile]. A Film and theatre critic, and later a popular Flemish television presenter, Balthazar has made a film adaptation of his bestseller Niet is alles wat hij zei (Nothing Was All He Said), which he previously adapted for the stage following the book’s unbelievable success (see news).

Starring young actors Greg Timmermans and Laura Verlinden, Ben X was produced by Peter Bouckaert of MMG Film & TV Production and will be released in Belgium in September by Kinepolis Film Distribution.

The official competition is also hosting two Belgian shorts: Pascale Hecquet’s Belgian/French co-production Une girafe sous la pluie and Banu Akseki’s Songes d’une femme de ménage.

Two Belgian titles feature out of competition and in official selection: Sam Garbarski’s Irina Palm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sam Garbarski
interview: Sébastien Delloye
film profile] (see Focus), a Belgian co-production from Saga Film, and Lady Chatterley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by French director Pascale Ferran.

Another co-production from the slate of Saga Films, Rolando Colla’s L’autre moitié (co-produced by Swiss outfit Peacock Film), will make its international premiere in the Focus on World Cinema section, which also hosts Benoît Mariage’s Cow Boys, starring an attractive cast (Benoît Poelvoorde, Julie Depardieu, Gilbert Melki and Bouli Lanners). The feature was produced by K2 Productions and France’s UGC Images.

Also in the section and featuring an array of fine actors (Kevin Janssens, Jan Decleir, Koen De Bouw and Carry Goossens) is Koning van de wereld [+see also:
trailer
film profile] ("King of the World") by Guido Henderickx, produced by Frank Van Passel and Bert Hamelinck for Caviar Films.

Five shorts will be presented in the section: Oliver Tollet and Jean-Julien Collette’s E finita la commedia (produced by Hélicotronc); Roman Klochkov’s animated film Administrators; Sissi Seifert’s Mama, Hendrik Moonen’s Moment of Glory (Dreams in Motion); and Guido Thys’s Tanghi Argentini (Another Dimension of an Idea).

Three documentaries round up the Belgian selection: Dan Alexe’s Cabale à Kaboul, Carmen Castillo’s Cannes entry Rue Santa Fe and Didier Verbeek’s medium-length feature Raffaele Mastroianni, profession: voleur.

(Translated from French)