100% financed in Belgium, “Megalomaniac” is a textbook case, because Les films du Carré, who brought it to us, took the opposite direction of all the classic approaches to offer us a very dark and very, very exciting genre feature film. Directed by the stakhanovist Karim Ouellaj, this original project is the first part of a diptych… of two independent feature films. Both films will be signed by the same director and can be shown in a single program. Old school, Grindhouse style. This does not prevent us, given the uncompromising scenario and the hints of “cult film”, from imagining that this uppercut could also have a very interesting career in festivals and on multiple VOD platforms. The filming will be done in Liège, the crew and the post-production will be from Wallonia. Our curiosity is sharpened.
Nicolas George, Benjamin Ramon and Karim Ouellaj, a shock trio for a 100% atypical film
More classic in its financial construction, “Plein la vue” is carried by Tarantula, majority producer with a French partner. Many technicians (Benoit Dervaux, Paul Rouschop, Philippe Charbonnel, Philippe Bourgueil…) and Walloon companies are involved in the project. This well-written social comedy follows Dylan (Zacharie Chasseriaud) and Karim (Ahmed Dramé), nice kids from the city and childhood friends, who are placed under judicial control in an educational institute for the blind to perform community service. For those who spent their troubled youth skipping school, it’s almost worse than prison. But when Dylan falls in love with Perrine (Isabelle Vittari), his motivation is quickly increased tenfold.
Thomas Mustin, aka Mustii plays a funny role in “Plein la vue”.
As usual, Les Films de la Passerelle have brought us a public interest documentary that will surely leave a mark. For “L’enfance déracinée” (Uprooted Childhood), Idris Gabel started from a rather tragic premise: among the migrants who flee their country in atrocious conditions, many are children. What happens to them after they have been confronted with drownings, violent deaths, fear and inhospitality in countries that refuse to welcome them? Will they ever have the opportunity to escape the horrific traumas that have marked the beginning of their sad existence? This very small budget, partly financed by the Red Cross, which will make extensive use of the document, will be programmed on the RTBF but also in cinemas on the occasion of exceptional screenings.
The third 100% Walloon project is “H.A.N.”, a documentary series about the life of the Rangers in the Han animal park. It was proposed to us by Agent Double, a new Walloon producer, belonging to the group Dame Blanche. Sébastien Derave will direct this immersion documentary which aims at a very large audience through broadcasts on a major Belgian channel (RTBF is acquired) or international thematic channels. Almost all the team is Walloon as well as the means of postproduction. Welcome to the club!
“Les Rivières Pourpres” is another series, but of fiction, this one. Proposed by Umedia on an initiative of Europa Corp, these eight episodes almost entirely filmed in Wallonia feature the hero of the original novel, Pierre Niémans, in four new adventures (two episodes for one story) in the spirit of this very dark esoteric bestseller. For this new experience, Niémans, interpreted here by Olivier Marchal, is flanked by a teammate who was one of his students. She will be played on screen by Erika Sainte. This long shooting calls for a lot of Walloon technicians, including a chief cameraman who will work on all the episodes: Bruno Degrave, a great talent who is climbing the ladder at full speed!
We remain in what purists call “the genre”, for a feature film co-produced by Canada, Luxembourg and Belgium. The combination is original and the pitch is even more so, almost untraceable in less than a page. Just know that there will be a hitman, a snarling godfather, a cocaine-addicted jazz trumpeter and even a vampire. Among others. “Dreamland” is in fact the new crazy project of Canadian Bruce McDonald (“Pontypool”), co-produced here by the promising Sébastien Schelenz for Velvet Films. Eight days of shooting are planned in Wallonia (six in studio) with many regional technicians. The technical industry is not to be outdone: camera equipment, lighting (Eyelight), dressing rooms (Location consulting and facilities) and machinery (Wallitec) will be rented in Wallonia, while Dame Blanche, Benuts or La cantine d’Iris will also be in great demand.
The last file pinned by the Board of Wallimage is another series, but of animation this one, which will plunge Abraca and Firmin, a duo of intrepid young people, in the world of Imagi where the characters of fairy tales live. It’s up to them to solve a lot of conflicts in the course of breathtaking adventures populated by mythical faces, well known to all. Dreamwall Studios will do most of the animation, but “Abraca” is above all an opportunity to build the foundations of a long-lasting collaboration between Belvision and Ankama’s French studios via the creation of a joint studio in Roubaix in direct relation with the Marcinelle infrastructures. The idea is to set up common training programs and talent management that will enable us to retain the best. The sacred union!
