A Cannes breeze will blow through Brussels this week. More than a year after its screening on the Croisette, audiences will finally be able to see the ensemble film To Each His Cinema (2007), produced by the Cannes Film Festival and Elzévir Films. To celebrate the festival’s 60th anniversary, 35 directors from 25 different countries made three-minute films about movie theatres and the magic of darkness.

Europe is represented by 13 directors, including the Dardenne brothers. While viewers wait for the release of Lorna’s Silence [trailer, film focus] on August 27, they thus have the chance to discover the Dardennes’ contribution to the collective project: Dans l’obscurité (“In the Darkness”), starring Emilie Dequenne and Jérémie Segard.
This week’s major European release is Diane Kurys’ eagerly awaited Sagan [trailer]. In the wake of La Vie en Rose [trailer], and with Mesrine, Coco, Coluche and Gainsbourg set to hit screens, France has succumbed to a wave of biopics.

Starring an impressive Sylvie Testud, Sagan – which has enjoyed moderate success in France – is being launched by Benelux Film Distribution on 13 screens, in Brussels as well as Flanders and Wallonia, which is rare for a French film.

Another French title is being released this week on a more modest print-run: Claus Drexel’s Affaire de famille [trailer] (“Family Affair”), starring André Dussolier and Miou Miou.

Peter Greenaway also makes a comeback, after the experimental Tulse Luper Suitcases series. The UK director returns with Nightwatching, a biopic (Greenaway-style) devoted to Rembrandt. The film is produced by Aria Films (UK), Yeti Films (Poland) and Kasander Film (Netherlands).

Finally, young Dutch-speaking Belgian viewers will have the chance to discover the big-screen adaptation of the best-selling book devoured by their parents: Tonke Dragt’s De Brief voor de Koning (1962). Directed by Pieter Verhoeef, the €7.5m film was produced by Armada Productions and Eyeworks Egmond.