23/06/2010

Benelux Film Distributors (BFD) stays true to its name in the Netherlands, with a strong slate of local titles alongside international successes such as Sweden’s Millennium films, Roman Polanksi’s The Ghost Writer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Werner Herzog’s The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans.

Last year’s biggest local title, Stricken [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (formerly A Woman Goes to the Doctor, a literal translation of the Dutch title), was distributed by BFD, and this year’s biggest local success to date, The Happy Housewife [+see also:
trailer
film profile], is also a BFR release and recently welcomed its 500,000th visitor. Both films star Carice van Houten and are produced by Eyeworks.

Further Dutch films BFD released this year include arthouse titles Hunting & Sons [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and The Aviatrix of Kazbek [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The distributor will also release the hotly anticipated The Dinner Club in November, which could be another box office success in the Housewife mould.

The Dinner Club is an adaptation of the eponymous literary thriller from Saskia Noort, which has sold over 400,000 copies in the Netherlands and was recently awarded the Prix SNCF du Polar by French readers.

The adaptation is directed by Robert Jan Westdijk, who wrapped filming earlier this month. It tells the story of an Amsterdam refugee in a chic country town where the women organise a dinner club with their husbands. Startling truths about each of the characters start to surface when one of them commits suicide.

The film adaptation stars Bracha van Doesburgh, Mark van Eeuwen, Halina Reijn, Peter Paul Muller and veteran actor Thom Hoffman.

Infinity Film & TV Productions produced the film in co-production with Palentino Media Productions, Mollywood, Rinkel Film & TV Productions and commercial broadcaster SBS.