Amsterdam-based production company Argus Film has been declared bankrupt, while the future of its distributor partner, Upstream Pictures, seems unclear.

Owner Peter van Vogelpoel told the Dutch press that he expects that Upstream - which released Dancer in the Dark in the Netherlands - might survive, but Argus is finished.

The problems with Argus, launched in 1993, date back to 2000, when the company produced Wilde Mossels (Wild Mussels), a Dutch feature by director Erik de Bruyn. The film got fairly good reviews and even some prizes such as the Public and the Critics Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival. But the attendance (60,000 admissions) was below the expected number (100.000) needed to break even.

A new feature by Argus, 100.000 Fietsventielen, has been called off.

Upstream Pictures is also, according to Van Vogelpoel, 'technically bankrupt' although the owners are trying to keep the company in business.