RELEASES Belgium
From festival to movie theatre
by Aurore Engelen
20/08/2008 - While audiences still dream of sunny holidays, Belgian distributors are hard at work: in mid-August, no less than eight films are being launched in theatres. Of course, not all the releases have the audience-pulling power of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (70 screens) or Wall-E (70 screens). But European titles stand out once again due to their diversity.
Young viewers will have the chance to discover Swedish film Leaps and Bounds [trailer], directed by Norway’s Peter Naess, which won over the jury at the latest European Youth Film Festival in Flanders. The film – which has done the rounds of children’s film festivals across the world – is a typical example of a three-way European co-production, involving Sweden, Norway and Germany.
Another audience, another Europe: having screened at numerous festivals – including Sofia International Film Festival, where it picked up the award for Best Film – Srdan Golubovic’s The Trap [trailer] is being released in Flanders by Brunbro. This social thriller is a three-way co-production between Germany, Hungary and Serbia.
Finally, Les Films Pelleas are monopolising Belgian screens, with two releases this week. There is a summer launch for Nés en 68 [trailer] (“Born in 68”) by Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel, which enjoyed success at the Cabourg Romantic Film Festival in June, scooping the awards for Best Actress and Best Male Newcomer, confirming the popularity of Belgian actor Yannick Renier in France.
Pierre Schoeller’s Versailles [trailer, film focus] – a 100% French production by Pelleas which screened at Cannes and enjoyed success at the latest Brussels European Film Festival (BeTV Award for Best Film) – is being released by BFD. The latter are also launching festival favourite The Drummer by Hong Kong director Kenneth Bi.
(Translated from French)
