From this week, the best French-speaking films of the moment will meet in Angoulême (from August 22 to 26) before, for most of them and a few others too, coming for a short stay on the banks of the Meuse for the Namur FIFF (from October 3 to 10).
On the other side of the Atlantic, Montreal hosts the World Film Festival (August 21 to September 1) before turning the spotlight on Toronto (September 4 to 14).
At this moment, the FFO, Ostend Film Festival, will be punctuated by the ceremony of the Flemish Film Awards (September 20th) where, as you already know, four films co-financed by Wallimage/Bruxellimage have collected 24 nominations.
Many films supported by Wallimage and Wallimage/Bruxellimage are involved in these different events.
Melody by Bernard Bellefroid (Artemis), which should not be released in France before the beginning of 2015, will be screened in both Angoulême and Montreal, while the French festival initiated by Dominique Besnehard will also allow us to discover Bouboule, a Belgian-Helvetian co-production that was brought to us by Versus.
In Montreal, next to Melody, the Regards sur les Cinémas du Monde section will present Tous les chats sont gris (la nuit) by Savina Dellicour produced by Tarantula Belgium with Bouli Lanners as a single private detective investigating his possible biological daughter.
Considered by many to be the second most important film event in the world after Cannes, the Toronto Film Festival hosts a large number of prestigious premieres and a vibrant marketplace.
This year there will be SIX films in which the Walloon and Brussels regional funds are involved.
Tokyo Fiancée, Stefan Liberski’s third feature film for the cinema, produced by Versus Production, will have its World Premiere. It will be featured in the Contemporary World Cinema section: the Canadian public will discover Pauline Étienne in a J-pop adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s autobiographical novel Ni d’Ève ni d’Adam.
Two Days, One Night by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Alleluia by Fabrice du Welz will also be part of the festival. The first one, produced by Les Films du Fleuve will be the subject of a special presentation while the second one is programmed in the Vanguard section dedicated to daring and provocative directors. Well, here is an ideal duo to prove to everyone that Belgian cinema is not only ambitious, it is also protean.
Especially since two other Wallimage/Bruxellimage co-productions will reinforce this trend: Waste Land, the third electro-shock film by Pieter Van Hees, plunges a police inspector played by Jérémie Rénier into the investigation of a mysterious death in Brussels that will gradually engulf him. Alongside it, Welp, also known as Cub, Jonas Govaerts’ first feature film, has found its place in the Midnight Madness program, midnight screenings that offer genre films. Normal for the first real Belgian slasher with an impressive Jan Hammenecker as a maniac of the demonic trap.
Finally, as the last addition to an already strong program, Labyrinthus, the first film by director Douglas Boswell, will be programmed as part of TIFF Kids, a section that offers audiences family films from around the world.
All this commotion from across the Atlantic should not make us forget that the 71st Venice Film Festival, which will take place from August 27 to September 6, will host Pasolini, which focuses on the last days of the Italian master’s life. A film directed by Abel Ferrara and co-produced in Belgium by Tarantula that will also be screened in Canada on September 8.
In the Lagoon, the directors of Tarantula will meet their friends from Films du Fleuve who will come to defend Terre battue, Stéphane Demoustier’s first film with Olivier Gourmet. Another title from our line-up.
This flurry of festivals will therefore end (temporarily) in Namur with some Wallimage films already confirmed in the official selection: Stefan Liberski’s Tokyo Fiancée will open the event on October 3. During the week, we will also find Bouboule, Le goût des myrtilles by Thomas de Thier and Jacques a vu, signed by the regional of the stage Xavier Diskeuve. Other titles could complete this already exciting selection
