11/07/2024 - The Brussels regional fund supports 13 new projects for a total of €1,37 million for its 25th session

Director Alexe Poukine, whose new project Kika was selected, at the BRIFF (© Boris Radermecker/BRIFF)

screen.brussels, the Brussels regional investment fund, just announced the results of its latest session, which selected 13 audiovisuals projects including 6 live-action features, amongst which features Kika, the first fiction feature by Alexe Poukine, recently awarded at the Brussels International Film Festival for her documentary feature Who Cares? [+see also:
film review
interview: Alexe Poukine
film profile]. Already experienced in fiction with her short film Palma, Special jury prize and Best Acting award at Clermont-Ferrand, the filmmaker draws the unusual portrait of Kika. Just when her partner passes away, she realises with stupor that she is pregnant. Completely broke and her heart crushed, she organises her priorities: 1- get out of her mess. 2- think about whether to keep this child or not. Kika is produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) and co-produced by Kidam (France), who has been accompanying the filmmaker from several films.

Two other fiction features are also receiving support. Valéry Carnoy, noticed with his short film Titan, nominated for a César and Grand Prix at the Brussels Short Film Festival, will shoot La Danse des Renards this summer, which follows the trajectory of Camille, a young virtuoso boxer, recently crowned champion of France, saved in extremis from a mortal accident by his best friend Matteo. Their friendship will be called into question by the anxiety seizing the young man following his brush up with death. Young French actor Samuel Kircher (the revelation from Last Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catherine Breillat
film profile]) will have the lead role in this film produced by Hélicotronc (Belgium) and co-produced by Les Films du Poisson (France).

Also supported is Clean by Koen Van Sande, an investigative tragedy around an ambitious drug squad commissioner, whose unique obstacle to his “war on drugs” is the heroin addiction of his own brother. Inspired by a true story, the film explores questions of toxic masculinity and of the obsessive need for control. Koen Van Sande got himself noticed with the tense short film Lockdown in 2019. Clean is produced by Cartouche and Daylight Films (Belgium).

screen.brussels also supports the co-production of three prestigious French features: Dalloway by Yann Gozlan, inspired by the novel Les fleurs de l’ombre by Tatiana de Rosnay, starring Cécile de France, Lars Mikkelsen and Anna Mouglalis, produced by Mandarin & Compagnie (France) and co-produced by La compagnie cinématographique (Belgium); L’homme qui rétrécit by Jan Kounen, starring Jean Dujardin, whose shoot is currently taking place in Brussels and its regions, produced by Pitchipoï Productions (France) and co-produced by Umedia (Belgium); and finally, Madame by Thierry Klifa, inspired by the Lilian Bettencourt case, with a 5 stars casting including Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Marina Foïs, Raphaël Personnaz as well as Benjamin Biolay, produced by Récifilms (France) and co-produced by Versus Production (Belgium).

Amongst the other projects receiving support, we will note the animated feature Outfoxed directed by Paul J Bolger and written by Barry Devlin, produced by Monster Entertainment (Ireland) and co-produced by Walking The Dog (Belgium) and Doghouse Films (Luxembourg).

(Translated from French)