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RELEASES Belgium

Bodies battle with reality on screens

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Gone for a Dance, the new film by Alain Berliner (see interview and news) opening through Cinéart this Wednesday is a long-awaited release, one plunged into mourning by the recent death of French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel, who elegantly played one of his last roles in the film as a roguish tap dancer.

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Co-starring Cécile de France, Pierre Cassignard and Jeanne Balibar, Gone for a Dance stars Vincent Elbaz, who has a destructive passion for dance, a dream sparked by Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain.

Through three generations, each man leaves his family to pursue the pipe dream of Broadway, passed down from father to son like a secret curse. A cross between an intimate drama, ensemble film and a musical comedy, Berliner’s film is an ambitious one, oscillating yet again between genres with an impressive performance by Elbaz, who struggles against weightlessness.

The film was produced by Artémis Productions with regular partners Patrick Quinet of Luxembourg’s Samsa Film, UK outfit Ipso Facto, and French companies Liaison cinématographique, Nord-Ouest Production and Pan Européenne Production .

Gone for a Dance had a €6m budget and is being sold internationally by TF1 International.

Another Belgian title also hitting screens today is Stijn Coninx’s documentary To Walk Again, which follows the life of prolific Belgian athlete Marc Herremans, a high-level sportsman, triathlete and "Ironman" who lost the use of his legs after an accident. Nine years later, the athlete finished sixth in the handicapped section of the Ironman competition in Hawaii.

To Walk Again is a tribute to Herremans and the film’s title is coincidentally the same name of the foundation set up by this superhuman athlete who never gave up his dream of walking again. The feature comes from the slate of Golazo, whose main area of expertise to date has been commercials, and was co-produced by VRT - Vlaamse Radio Televisie and the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF).

To Walk Again is out through Kinepolis on 11 screens.

The eight new releases out this week also include Cannes 2006 Grand Jury prizewinner, Flanders [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Bruno Dumont (see interview and article), released by Imagine Films Distribution; El Custodio [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, jointly produced by Argentina, France (Charivari Films ) and Germany (Pandora Filmproduktion), directed by Rodrigo Moreno and on release through Abc; and J'veux pas que tu t'en ailles [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by French helmer Bernard Jeanjean (dist. Les Films de L'Elysée), whose first film, the behind-the-scenes romance J'me sens pas belle, was a surprise hit in 2004.

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(Translated from French)

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