Circus documentary Fantastique from director Marjolijn Prins won the Perfect Pitch award at Connext, the Flemish film and TV showcase that took place in Antwerp this week. It was one of four winners, sharing an estimated €80,000 worth of support. They were chosen by the international delegates attending the event via the Connext app.
The documentary about a female acrobat from Guinea who faces conflict at home as she goes in pursuit of her dreams is produced by Serendipity Films. The award comes with postproduction support from Flow, an Antwerp facility, to be used in the creation of marketing tools; a digital advertising budget with Screen International; and 30 hours of strategic marketing coaching by Kathleen McInnis, who has been coaching the teams pitching in Antwerp this week.
Serendipity’s Mirna Everhard, who pitched the project alongside the director, revealed the project has already been pre-sold by the producers to various distributors, among them Les Films Du Preau in France, O’Brother in Belgium and Gusto in the Netherlands.
A special mention was given to Heysel 85 - The Game Must Go On, the feature drama set against the backcloth of the Heysel stadium tragedy in 1985. Belgian production outfit Menuetto Films is producing the film that will now be directed by Romanian filmmaker Teodora Ana Mihai and aims to shoot next year.
Fiction film Young Hearts, marking the directorial debut of Anthony Schatteman, won the work in progress award. The family film is produced by Polar Bear and is now in postproduction. It is the story of a young teenage boy who becomes attracted to his slightly older neighbour and isn’t sure how to deal with his feelings. It will receive the same benefits as Fantastique.
The series pitch award went to the second season of Roomies, Kato De Boeck and Flo Van Deurne’s Ensor-winning drama about two friends in their 20s moving into an apartment in Brussels together. The second season is in development, and is being made through Ghent-based De Wereldvrede.
Meanwhile, the series work in progress award went to She They Us - Towards an Equal Future which profiles seven people facing discrimination due to gender, sexuality, colour, age, class and religion.
It is produced by Emmy Oost’s Cassette for timescapes and has Esther Van Messel’s First Hand aboard as sales agent. The directors are Sam Peeters, Heleen Declercq and Zaïde Bil. Financing came from the VAF, broadcaster VRT, Screen Brussels and the Belgian tax shelter. The project is in the very final phases of post-production. The project receives its world premiere at Film Fest Gent later this month.
A special mention was given to Safi Graauw’s drama series Chameleon produced by De Mensen and sold by Global Screen. Produced by Pieter Van Huyck and Ivy Vanhaecke, this follows would be-actor Chris and his three close friends as they try to make a life away from the deprived neighbourhood in which they have been growing up.
Both series winners receive poster space at Content London later in the year.
Facing the TV drama challenge
Some 150 sales agents, distributors, film festival programmers and representatives of national film agencies were in attendance at Connext which took place in Antwerp for the second time.
Among the buzz projects were quirky documentary series The Mysterious Case Of The Belgian Triangle, from production outfit Diplodokus and which looks at visitations from UFOs to Belgium in the late 1980s. This is directed by Bram Conjaerts and is starting production this month.
In a keynote address Emmanuel Eckert, deputy director, acquisitions at French media giant Mediawan, warned there is a glut of drama in the European TV market.
“The numbers of produced series have drastically increased,” the French executive noted. He said 1,000 original series were produced in 2022, a massive increase on the 500 or so series proeduced 15 years ago.
“Is it too much? I don’t know but it’s a lot,” Eckert said. “This number is not only because of the streamers. It is also because we are dealing with a golden age of TV series.”
To stand out in the crowd, Eckert urged producers to strike alliances beyond national borders. He cited the example of Scandinavia where countries working together have spawned waves of noir and drama series. “They are producing all together. That is key for the future. One [European] country all alone is not very strong.”
Mediawan’s strategy, he said, is to “connect all the different countries, producers and talents” it works with across the continent. “Of course it’s a business but at the beginning, really it is about trying to be as close as possible to you,” Eckert gestured to an audience full of Belgian film and TV producers pitching new projects. “I am very optimistic. That is my nature. I think we will find a way rot keep our creativity, to face new challenges and to keep our strengths.”
Eckert hailed the vitality of the Flemish audiovisual sector with its “strong” and “efficient” broadcasters and streamers “Language is not an issue any more so I think we are in the beginning of a new era,” he ended his address on a positive note.
He and other delegates praised the organisation of Connext. “it [the event] showed the broad variety of productions that are made in Belgium and as a many of these are co-pros, it gives you an even better impression of productions and cooperations. Our focus on Belgium and the Benelux countries)has grown.,”
Ulrike Schröder, co-head of sales and acqisitions at German outfit Telepool described Connextx as: “One of the best industry events in Europe, compact, well-organised, focused, efficient, [and] the locations are great.”
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