Acclaimed in 1995 for Manneken Pis, a first feature film selected in Cannes’ Critics’ Week, Frank Van Passel has worked in TV for a long time, both as a director and a producer. He’s now returning to film with The Soundman, an ambitious historical production paying tribute to the world of Belgium radio on the threshold of the Second World War and to its famous flagship home, the Flagey building. The movie is released in Belgium on 17 December, courtesy of Kinepolis.

The film begins with a countdown, on 5 May 1940, five days before the German invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands, two countries which were both seen as neutral in the global conflict at that time. Jewish children who have tried to flee Nazi Germany are being sent back home, which poses a dilemma for Belgian people of Jewish origin: should they stay in their homeland or leave? Elza (Femke Vanhove) has only one dream in her life: to perform on stage, just like her late mother. In the meantime, she sings in radio ads, hoping to rise through the ranks: why not become an actress in one of the radio soap operas which Belgian audiences love so much and which help them forget – even if just for a few moments a day - the dark times hanging over them? While making her way through a studio, she crosses paths with sound effects genius Berre (Jeffe Hellemans) and, despite each of them being caught up in their own bubbles, they slowly warm up to one another as the country’s situation takes a turn for the worst.

Gravitating around them are a carousel of secondary characters, each of whom represent a particular side of the Belgian population in those troubled times. Polak (Koen de Bouw) - the foley artist who has taken Berre under his wing and who is faced with unacceptable compromises - chooses to take back his freedom for which he pays the ultimate price. Old-school Cassanova Fons Belloy (Peter Van den Begin) - the male star in the radio play which also features Elza - soon reveals and revels in his antisemitic side. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Belgian King Leopold III switches sides and the people yield, capitulate or get mobilised.

Frank Van Passel employs the prism of a love story to recount the national history of a small country at a hugely tumultuous time. And since sound plays a significant part in how the story unfolds, the filmmaker opts for a sensorial approach with a tone alternating between moral tale and fantasy, thanks to a handful of fantastical scenes which punctuate the two lovers’ story. Flagey, the majestic building which is home to the radio network and the larger part of the plot, provides the film with a modernist, fairy tale decor, but the result, albeit nostalgic, sometimes feels a little dated, in the same way that the singularity of the sounds characterising Berre’s real and inner universe are regrettably somewhat drowned out by waves of music. The film’s young actors, however, Femke Vanhove in particular, slip effortlessly into this retro world, bringing their own little touches of modernity.

The Soundman was produced by Lompvis (Belgium) in co-production with Sunny Pictures (Netherlands) and Beluga Tree (Belgium), and with support from Caviar and VRT. LevelK (Denmark) are handling world sales.