The Benelux film funds (the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre, the Netherlands Film Fund and the Film Fund Luxembourg) announced on 18 May at the Cannes Film Festival the first three winners of the co-development grant launched in 2025, with the aim of encouraging and strengthening sustainable collaboration between creative teams in the Benelux countries.

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The first call for projects was launched in February this year. During this pilot phase, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund acted as the implementing body and coordinated the application process as well as the work of the joint advisory committee. During the first call, 12 applications for fiction and animation projects were submitted. From these, an independent joint advisory committee selected three projects, each receiving a grant of €50,000. Thanks to this new co-development scheme, producers in the Benelux are encouraged to explore the most relevant creative collaboration and the corresponding financing strategy for their films. The scheme also addresses producers’ needs for more space for joint development. This is a pilot project scheduled to run for two years.

Julien Henry has therefore received funding for his feature film Bangers. This Belgian director has made a name for himself in both fiction and documentary, with the short film La Pote d’un pote, and the documentary Se crasher pour exister, which featured a young female rider with a thirst for speed and offered a glimpse into life on a speedway circuit. He returns to the world of stock car racing in Bangers, which follows the journey of a young woman joining this community. For this film, Julien Henry is continuing his collaboration with the Liège-based company Tarantula (Belgium), and the film will be co-produced by Topkapi Films (Netherlands), Tarantula (Luxembourg) and Czar (Belgium).

The second project to receive support is the family film Look Up Sammy by Elisabeth Hesemans, based on a screenplay by Caya De Groot. Hesemans is best known for directing the children’s drama series KABAM!, for which she won an International Emmy Award. The film is produced by Keplerfilm for the Netherlands, and co-produced by Samsa Film (Luxembourg) and A Private View (Belgium).

The final project is an animated film, The False Hero, written and directed by Nicolas Keppens, who has already made a name for himself with his short film Beautiful Men (2023), which earned him an Oscar nomination. The film is produced by the Belgian company Animal Tank, and co-produced by Doghouse Films (Luxembourg) and Viking Film (Netherlands).

The deadline for the next call for applications is 16 March 2027.