Ana, 24 years old, leaves a film shoot where she didn’t fit in, to return to Strasbourg, the city of her adolescence. She made it her mission to change her grandmother’s bathtub to a walk-in shower, a configuration more suited to her advanced age.
Does the pitch seem incongruous? It is. But Alone as a Bathtub (Baden Baden) is a delightful project that evokes Mobile Home (another Tarantula production) while openly drawing inspiration from American independent cinema.
Another surprising element is that this will be the third part of a triptych that director Rachel Lang began with two award-winning short films. Salomé Richard, its main actress, was already on the bill for Pour toi je ferai bataille and Les Navets blancs empêchent de dormir. The shooting took place this summer; now it’s time for the post-production phase.
Proposed by Alain Berliner, Missing Paper is a project initiated in Italy by the director/producer Renzo Martinelli, to whom we owe notably The Case of the Five Moons. This erudite and inquisitive man is fascinated by political manipulation and has investigated for several years the crash of an Italian airliner that he believes exploded following a collision with an American fighter jet. His theory (very popular in Italy) will become a thriller that, like his previous films, is intended to challenge the results of the “official investigation” that do not satisfy many people. Lubna Azabal will play a major role in this film, which will be shot by a few Belgian technicians and partly post-produced at Dame Blanche Genval and at the Pôle Image de Liège (at Mikros).
The third feature film chosen by the Wallimage/Bruxellimage Board of Directors is certainly not the least expected: Noces will be the third feature film signed by Stephan Streker (photo) after the experimental Michael Blanco and the aesthetic Le Monde nous appartient. Daylight (Michael Goldberg and Boris Van Gils) produces this drama with a remarkable screenplay which, because of its subject and the promise it holds, could allow the Brussels filmmaker to acquire an enviable reputation at the international level. To be followed, very closely.
Archibelge is a fascinating exploration of Belgian architecture through three of its most incongruous poles: the urbanization of Brussels, the strange propensity of Wallonia to build along roadsides and the no less singular (and for many, horrifying) concreteization of the Belgian coast.
Three chapters, three axes, three eras, three ways of understanding a complex country. Because through architecture, the authors of the scenario engage in a formidable sociological analysis of Belgium that amuses, intrigues and fascinates. This project is produced by Playtime and Offworld, which had already brought us the series Red Star Line, one of the real documentary successes of recent years.
We remain on television, but via a single TV movie for TF1 with L’Emprise: a first for Wallimage and/or Bruxellimage. Co-produced in Belgium by Scope, which, as usual, has repatriated a lot of expenses, this poignant drama built around a real trial plunges us without any concession into the daily life of a woman beaten by her “so nice” husband. Without a doubt, L’Emprise is in the tradition of Ce soir, j’ai tué l’assassin de mon fils (Tonight I Killed My Son’s Murderer), a top-of-the-line drama with great actors, crowned by a box-office success. Pierre Mertens is the sound engineer of the film, whose decoration is signed Noëlle Van Parijs. The shooting ended on Friday. Odile Vuillemin (Profilage), Fred Testot and Marc Lavoine are the main actors. A film of public health that may stir some sensitive souls.
Last file pinned by the Wallimage/Bruxellimage board for this first session of the 2014/2015 season, La Trève, a ten-episode series produced by Helicotronc as part of the call for projects launched by RTBF and the Wallonia-Brussels federation. Funding from the regional funds is conditional on a firm commitment from these two organizations.
A thriller that follows the threads of a criminal investigation, La Trêve is also the story of a man on the edge of his seat: Yoann Peeters, a cop with an indisputable nose for crime, a dark past and an uncertain future. The authors’ avowed references are Broadchurch and True Detective. We will add The Killing that the scenario and the atmosphere evoke as much.
The story was written by a young promising trio consisting of Stéphane Bergmans, Benjamin D’Aoust and Matthieu Donck (Torpedo) who will also contribute to its realization with a 100% Belgian cast composed of recognized actors such as Yoann Blanc, Guillaume Kerbusch or Catherine Salée.
