The results of the third 2023 session of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre’s Film Commission have just been unveiled. It’s worth noting that four majority Belgian features have been supported at the production stage, starting with the new movie by Lucas Belvaux (following his 2020 Cannes-label film Home Front [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lucas Belvaux
scheda film]; he is best known for Not My Type [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lucas Belvaux
scheda film] and the Cannes competition entry The Right of the Weakest [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]). In the autumn, the filmmaker will get stuck into Les Tourmentés [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lucas Belvaux
scheda film], the adaptation of his first novel, which was published in 2022. The story follows Skender, a former legionnaire who has been homeless since his wife, Manon, left him. He agrees to a crazy proposition by his former sergeant Max’s extremely wealthy boss: to serve as game during a human safari, in exchange for a hefty salary. In this way, he hopes his death will allow Manon and their two sons to be free from want. The main broker of this unusual contract, Max, thinks everything is under control, but even before the departure for the manhunt, which is due to take place six months later, nothing seems to be going as planned… A tantalising cast has been announced, bringing together Niels Schneider and Ramzy Bedia (who have just played opposite each other in the intense series Of Money and Blood [+leggi anche:
intervista: Xavier Giannoli
scheda series]), as well as Linh-Dan Pham and Déborah François. The film will be produced by Artemis Productions in Belgium and by Bizibi in France.

Olivier Pairoux is another director being backed at the production stage. After making SpaceBoy [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Olivier Pairoux
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Two feature debuts are also being backed at the production stage. With Devolution, Nicolas Boucart (who turned heads with his short film Icarus) plunges into a post-apocalyptic world where a virus has turned human beings into quadrupeds. Anna, a pregnant woman who has not been infected, makes a discovery that could allow her to envisage a brighter future. The film is being produced by Tarantula (Belgium).

Meanwhile, Mehdi Pierret (the director of the short film The Furniture) is working on Rouler des mécaniques, the tale of a thirtysomething obsessed with his car, Nicoletta, an old banger that he fully intends to save from the scrapyard at any cost. Rouler des mécaniques is being staged by Novak Prod.

It's also worth noting that a considerable number of films are in the pipeline, as no fewer than seven projects are being supported at the development stage, among which we find the new effort by the singular duo made up of Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni (Madly in Life [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Raphaël Balboni e Ann Sirot
scheda film], the Cannes Critics’ Week entry The (Ex)perience of Love [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ann Sirot e Raphael Balboni
scheda film]), who are currently developing Un détour par Diane with Les Films du Fleuve, the company run by the Dardenne brothers. There’s also the new movie by Flemish filmmaker Michaël R Roskam (Bullhead [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bart Van Langendonck
intervista: Michaël R. Roskam
scheda film], the Venice-selected Racer and the Jailbird [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Michael Roskam
scheda film]), who is working on Le Faux Soir, a historical film that looks back on a crucial episode of World War II in Belgium, and which will be produced by Frakas Productions, in addition to Xavier Seron with the black comedy La baguette magique and Benoît Mariage with La coupeuse de feu.