30/09/2025 - We head to the Netherlands and Belgium to speak to the pair of distributors about the particulars of working across the Benelux region

Stephan De Potter (left) and Marc Smit

For our September Distributor of the Month interview, we head to the Netherlands and Belgium to speak to Marc Smit and Stephan De Potter, co-CEOs of Cinéart. Our conversation focused mainly on the particulars of working across the Benelux region.

Cineuropa: Could you talk about the editorial line of Cinéart?
Stephan De Potter: We are celebrating 50 years of Cinéart this year. Our business model and editorial line focus primarily on discovering new talent, and continuing to follow them over the years and to release their films. Our catalogue is a mix of big names and established filmmakers as well as new discoveries, whose work we follow over time. We are also committed to supporting domestic directors in both the Netherlands and Belgium, such as Sacha Polak and Alex van Warmerdam in the Netherlands, and Fien Troch and the Dardenne brothers in Belgium.

Marc Smit: The spectrum of what we do is quite large. We go from a small debut film or a documentary to bigger releases like Babygirl, which we rolled out earlier this year. We also try to select films that provide meaning and open people’s eyes to certain realities of life.

SDP: These are mainly arthouse films, but they can also be crossover arthouse works. The quality of the movies is key for us. I would also say we are more director-driven than actor-driven. The script and the director behind a film matter more than the presence of a star.

How many titles do you require per year?
SDP: We do a little more than 30 releases in Belgium, and about 20-25 in the Netherlands these days.

MC: The reason for that is that there are two language communities in Belgium: French- and Flemish-speaking. This means we have to address different audiences in terms of language and culture. For instance, some French films are more suited for the French-speaking part of Belgium and not necessarily for the Flemish-speaking part, which means more French titles may be released in Belgium, and fewer in the Netherlands or the Flemish region. Conversely, some films are better suited for a Flemish/Dutch-speaking or more international audience than they are for the French-speaking territory.

How does your team work across the Benelux region? What are the main particularities in these markets that shape your strategic approaches in these territories?
MS: We have offices in Brussels and Amsterdam, but Stephan and I are in constant contact. A lot of the decisions we make on the acquisition front, as well as in terms of staff and philosophy, are one and the same. We are full-on local, but we operate as one region: the Benelux. We choose the films together, and we buy them together knowing that one may be more suited to one territory than the other. As for the releases and the local work, that’s something that’s done separately because we are very much on the ground, and the territories are different in the way they are approached and in the dynamics. So, the teams interact, but the work is more local at that point.

SDP: We see Cinéart as a Benelux company, and we make all of the big decisions together. When it’s about working on the titles themselves, we always try to find the best way to promote a film in each territory. So, we may use the same poster or trailer, but we are also open enough to consider that something might be more suitable for the Netherlands or for Belgium. We always leave enough room to adapt and to approach each territory differently.

MS: For example, Beating Hearts [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] was a huge success in France and Belgium, but it didn’t really work in the Netherlands. Somehow, audiences and cinemas didn’t connect with the mix of arthouse elements and a slightly more commercial treatment of the story. But that is something we felt from the outset. Another French film, The Marching Band [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Courcol
film profile], was a big success in both countries and went beyond our expectations. That’s the advantage of being so local and close to the markets: you can feel which films – in this instance, French ones – have something in them that can connect with Dutch audiences and which ones, even if they are huge in France, may not resonate the same way.

SDP: We don't necessarily seek to have the same release dates for films. Each territory decides on the best release date for its market. This can mean three, four, or even five months’ difference between releases in the two countries. For example, The Outrun [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nora Fingscheidt
film profile] was released in a challenging period in the Netherlands. In Belgium, it was more complicated to find the right spot at that time, so we postponed it. And we chose well: we released the film months later, during a weaker period in terms of competition, and it worked very well in Belgium. We are open-minded about it. We are working together, but if one country decides to release a film later, that’s fine. That flexibility is very important.

What motivated Cinéart to move into the development and financing of films? How does such an involvement in projects affect your role as a distributor?
MS: That decision was made about five years ago, and we’re not the only ones doing it. As we watched the industry evolve, we saw more films being picked up globally by players like Searchlight Pictures or Focus Features. There was a sense of consolidation and globalisation happening also in our niche, and we thought it was important to be there early on in projects. The ultimate idea was to add another string to our beautiful guitar. We do distribution, but as we consistently follow the work of auteurs like Asghar Farhadi, Joachim Trier and Fien Troch, we thought it would be valuable to also help them with the development or financing of their films. Now we do it either directly or through a joint venture we created with Curzon and Madman in London. Among the films we’ve helped develop or have invested in are Bad Apples [+see also:
film review
film profile], starring Saoirse Ronan, which debuted at Toronto, and Ballad of a Small Player [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Edward Berger. We were also involved in developing and investing in Lowland Kids, a documentary produced by Darren Aronofsky’s company, Protozoa Pictures, which premiered at CPH:DOX.

What are some of the most notable titles you’ve worked on?
MS: There are many films we are proud of. I’ll mention some of the recent ones. Two French movies, The Ties that Bind Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carine Tardieu
film profile] and The Marching Band, did very well in the Netherlands, and we were happy to help them find their niche and reach their audiences. That’s two examples of the films that struck a chord in the Netherlands. We also have first-time Dutch director Sven Bresser, whose Rietland [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] debuted at Cannes and is the Netherlands’ Oscar entry. We haven’t released it yet, but it's one of those small gems that we picked up before Cannes and which is now having quite an amazing journey.

SDP: I would add The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile], which was one of the most talked-about films at Venice. We have followed Kaouther Ben Hania for a long time, and seeing her work presented and applauded like that at Venice was amazing. That will be one of the gems to be released soon, along with Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jim Jarmusch
film profile], Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].