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ROME FILM FESTIVAL Alice in the City / Belgium

Love is like Oxygen in Rome

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One of the highlights of the Alice in the City section of the Rome International Film Festival is the Dutch-language Belgian film Oxygen [+see also:
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. Tucked away at the tail end of the festival and screened for the press at eleven at night (for a 90-minute feature), Hans Van Nuffel’s feature debut is a title few journalists will have seen but which is certainly worth it.

The film already won the Grand Prix d’Ameriques at the Montreal Film Festival earlier this year and was such a success at the Canadian screenings that it will be released in regular theatres in Canada this week.

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It is currently also doing very well in its general release in Flanders, where it has already been seen by over 100.000 ticket-buyers and is still on 17 screens. The film, whose title literally translates as “Breath” will also screen in Competition at the European Film Festival at Les Arcs in December.

The film, written by Van Nuffel and screenwriter-producer Jean-Claude Van Rijckegem, tells the story of 17-year-old Tom (Stef Aerts), who suffers from cystic fibrosis (a hereditary disease that also affects the director himself).

His older brother (Maarten Mertsens) is in a more advanced stage of the disease, and Tom feels the need to rebel, a need that is facilitated by his pushy, bad-news best friend (Rik Verheye). But there are other influences at work as well: a 30-year-old hospitalized man (Wouter Hendrickx) who seems to have it all despite his illness and who seems to inspire Tom to be better person, and a quarantined girl (Anemone Valcke) suffering from TBC with whom he enjoys talking by phone.

The quietly observant screenplay lets these opposing forces gently collide and intertwine, making for a rich tapestry in feelings and a unique look at the feelings and outlook on life of people with terminal or chronic diseases.

Despite the subject, the film is neither heavy-handed nor overly melodramatic, instead choosing a more realistic path somewhere in between.

Van Rijckegem and Dries Phlypo produced the film for their A Private View, in co-production with Dutch outfit Lemming Film. VAF and the Netherlands Film Fund, Eurimages and the Belgian Tax Shelter all provided financial backing. KFD released the film in Belgium, while Axia Films in Amsterdam handle international sales.

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