Eldorado sets out to conquer Hollywood
Having won over Cannes audiences, cinemagoers and the media at home and abroad, Bouli Lanners’s Eldorado [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] continues its successful journey and sets out to conquer Hollywood, having been chosen as Belgian hopeful for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
The national selection committee – presided by director Marion Hänsel – announced its decision on Friday. Unsurprisingly, their choice fell on the Belgian hit of 2008.
Whether by coincidence or for reasons of diplomacy, the committee seem to have adopted a strategy of alternating between Francophone and Dutch-language films over the last few years. We’ll recall the selection of Erik Van Looy’s The Alzheimer Case [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2004, the Dardenne brothers’ The Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile] in 2006, and Ben Balthazar’s Ben X [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nic Balthazar
interview: Peter Bouckaert
film profile] in 2007.
To date, only six Belgian films have made it onto the final shortlist, the last being Lieven Debrauwer’s Pauline and Paulette [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2002. No Belgian production has ever picked up the golden Oscar statuette, but two Belgian co-productions have won honours in Los Angeles: Marleen Gorris’ Antonia’s Line in 1995, and Danis Tanovic’s No Man’s Land [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2002.
On January 22, 2009, we’ll find out if Lanners’s second feature is among the five Oscar contenders.
Meanwhile, Eldorado continues to enjoy success and is still showing in five Belgian theatres. Since its release, the film has attracted over 40,000 viewers, which is an impressive result for a Belgian Francophone film.
Eldorado has performed less well than the Dardenne brothers’ Cannes prize-winner (Lorna’s Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
interview: Olivier Bronckart
film profile] has almost exceeded the threshold of 30,000 admissions in just over two weeks on release), but better than The Son [+see also:
trailer
film profile], to give an idea. In France, Eldorado has drawn over 100,000 viewers and is still showing on 67 screens.
(Translated from French)
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