From Marion Cotillard uniting with the Dardenne brothers to the latest from rising new directors, Geoffrey Macnab explores the hottest new Belgian films in the works

Brabanconne

Dir Vincent Bal

Fresh from his success with David Grossman adaptation Nono, The Zigzag Kid - which premiered at Toronto and played at Berlin this year - Bal is back with a comedy in the register of Brassed Off. Brabanconne pits Flemish and Walloon bands against one another in the final of a European brass-band competition. Described by Bal as “a musical about love and music in a divided country”, the film is produced by Eyeworks (Belgium) from a script by Pierre De Clercq. Shooting is due to begin at the end of the year.

Contact Eyeworks (Belgium) - peter.bouckaert@eyeworks.tv

I’m The Same I’m Another

Dir Caroline Strubbe

Lost Persons Area, Strubbe’s debut feature, was in Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2009 and she will hope to be back there with the follow-up, I’m The Same I’m Another. Currently in post, it is a psychological drama about the unusual relationship between a young girl and a man living together in an abandoned coastal village. Tomas Leyers of Minds Meet produces.

Contact Tomas Leyers, Minds Meet - tomas@mindsmeet.be

Marina

Dir Stijn Coninx

This Italy-Belgium co-production is based on the life of the famous musician Rocco Granata. It follows Salvatore, a poor ironsmith who leaves Calabria in 1948 for a job as a coal miner in Belgium. His spirited 10-year-old son occo adapts to his new surroundings by doing what he does best - playing music. Director Coninx’s 1992 film Daens was Oscar-nominated in the foreign-language category. Marina is produced by Peter Bouckaert at Eyeworks (Belgium), with the Dardenne brothers co-producing through Les Films du Fleuve.

Contact Eyeworks (Belgium) - peter.bouckaert@eyeworks.tv

Rosenn

Dir Yvan Le Moine

This period drama about a famous, world-weary US actor and the beautiful and innocent girl he meets in Brittany stars Rupert Everett alongside Béatrice Dalle and Belgian newcomer Hande Kodja as the female lead. The film, which will be ready in time for the summer festivals, is a co-production between AA Les Films Belges and Vivi Films in Belgium and Artisan Films in France. Le Moine’s previous features include Friday Or Another Day, starring Philippe Nahon and Ornella Muti, and The Red Dwarf with Anita Ekberg.

Contact Yvan Le Moine, AA Les Films Belges - aalesfilmsbelges@skynet.be

The Taste Of Blueberries

Dir Thomas de Thier

Venerable French star Michel Piccoli - whose career includes films with directors from Jean-Luc Godard and Luis Bunuel to Nanni Moretti - stars alongside Natasha Parry in this poignant drama about a devoted elderly couple about to go on a journey to an unknown destination from which there might be no return. The Taste Of Blueberries (Le Gout Des Myrtilles) is a co-production between Novak Prod in Belgium and Red Lion in Luxembourg. Currently in post, it will be ready for the spring/summer festivals. Director de Thier’s debut Feathers In The Head premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2003.

Contact Olivier Dubois - novak@skynet.be

Two Days, One Night

Dirs Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne

French Oscar winner Marion Cotillard toplines the latest film from double Palme d’Or winners the Dardenne brothers, the tale of a young woman who has to convince her colleagues to renounce their annual bonuses so she can keep her job. Long-time Dardenne collaborator Fabrizio Rongione is also set to star in the film, which is due to start shooting in Belgium this summer. Cannes 2014 is therefore its most likely docking point. Two Days, One Night (Deux Jours, Une Nuit) is a co-production between Belgium (the Dardennes’ Les Films Du Fleuve) and France (Archipel 35).

Contact Wild Bunch - www.wildbunch.biz

Vijay And I

Dir Sam Garbarski

A comedy starring Patricia Arquette and Moritz Bleibtreu, Vijay And I is about a middle-aged actor working on a kids’ TV show. Feeling sorry for himself when his family and friends forget his 40th birthday, he fulfils a fantasy by pretending he is dead and attending his own funeral. Garbarski’s Irina Palm premiered at Berlin in 2007. Vijay And I is a co-production between Belgium (Entre Chien et Loup), Germany (Pandora Filmproduktion), Luxembourg (Samsa Film) and Canada (Amérique Films). The Match Factory handles international sales on the film, which will be released in the autumn by Imagine Film Distribution in Belgium and Senator Film Verleih in Germany.

Contact The Match Factory - info@matchfactory.de

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