The first unexpected project is … a horror movie. Not an ersatz chic and nerdy genre film, but a pure slasher with a daring script and tricks that should make for some intriguing visual fun. Welp/Louveteau (international title vs. French title) has been put together by Potemkino who brought us the ambitious series The Spiral, a total success in terms of mastered production. Another peculiarity: it is a first film signed by Jonas Govaerts who, according to all, has a potential close to that of Michael R. Roskam, with whom he shares the director of photography Nicolas Karakatsanis.
The pitch? A group of Cub Scouts arrive in deep Wallonia for a summer camp. And falls on a bone: a very inventive bloodthirsty hermit who will be played by the impressive Jan Hammenecker. He confirmed the news from Chile where he is shooting Mirage d’amour with Fanfare, another feature film financed by Wallimage. Without erasing the national particularities that now make this type of production original, Welp is made to delight fans of the genre all over the world. With an exceptional Premiere at BIFFF in April 2014?
All cats are gray (at night) is the other very atypical profile. And it’s still a first film. Produced solo by Tarantula Belgium(Mobile Home, Sous le Figuier), without any foreign co-producer, this small budget is not a bird for the cat: on the contrary. At the head of the casting, we are even announced a duo for the least powerful: Bouli Lanners and Anne Coesens. Two Belgian actors who have already been awarded the Magritte and who also enjoy a real international recognition. The main role will be played by a 16 year old girl. A role that attracts a lot of covetousness, because the scenario is fascinating. We follow a young girl who, in order to find her biological father, contacts a private detective… who thinks he is the man she is looking for.
The career of the young director Savina Dellicour is also original: after IAD, she continued her studies in England at the NFTS, under the tutelage of Stephen Frears. Her graduation film was nominated for a student Oscar in L.A. and her next film, funded by Film 4 and the UK Film Council, was selected in over 30 international festivals where it won several awards. She also directed ten episodes ofHollyoaks, a popular British television series. Promising? No, maybe…
There will also be an exceptional duo in the lead of Tu l’appelleras Jeanne, the new feature film byAnne-Marie Étienne, produced in Belgium by Scope Pictures. This will be the first Belgian majority film of the Rixensart company as a delegated co-producer. A great first, but above all a logical outcome in the increasingly complete CV of Scope.
We will see a young woman of 35 years, traumatized by the death of her son, taking refuge in a convent to try to rebuild herself out of time. To escape the world especially. But on the spot, Laura will meet warm and empathetic women who could well, over the months, break her shell. She befriended Sister Jeanne, a dynamic forty-year-old. We spoke to you about the casting and it is very exciting: Laura will be played by Marie Gillain and Jeanne by Sandrine Bonnaire. The film will star Jacqueline Bir and the evergreen Gisele Casadesus, whom Anne-Marie Etienne already directed in Sous le Figuier (another Wallimage film, to be released in Belgium on June 12). The shooting will last 38 days, at the crossroads of summer and fall. Entirely in Wallonia.
The last project is 100% Brussels. It is also a special case in the history of the mixed fund. Waste Land, produced by Epidemic with Entre Chien et loup, was selected by the Wallimage/Bruxellimage Board in 2012. But the withdrawal of Matthias Schoenaerts and a postponed shooting forced the production to resubmit his film. As the allocated amount was recouped, it was reinvested in the 2013 fund budget. Dura lex sed lex.
Directed by Peter Van Hees, Waste Land is currently shooting in Brussels with an entirely new cast as Jérémie Renier replaces Matthias Schoenaerts. He is flanked by Natali Broods(Swooni, La Merditude des choses), Peter Van den Begin(Allez Eddy, Frits en Freddy, La cinquième saison), Jacques Delcuvellerie, Mourade Zeguendi and the sculptural Babetido Sadjo.
The pitch has not changed: when he learns that his wife is pregnant, Leo loses his footing and drowns his panic fear of being a father again by devoting himself body and soul to a very gloomy investigation. The strange ritual murder of a young Congolese man will plunge him into the heart of a twilight city, in which he risks getting lost. Also shot on a very tight budget, this harrowing thriller is already fascinating on paper. It should surprise even the people of Brussels who think they know their city well.
To discover all these films, a year of patience will be necessary. In the meantime, we will naturally keep you informed of their development.
