Netherlands Production Platform - Nederlands Film Festival

Director
Michaël R Roskam
Producer
Bart Van Langendonck
Writer
Michaël R Roskam
Based on
an original story
Language
Dutch (Flemish dialects)
and French (dialect)
Genre
Drama
Format
35mm
Running time
120 mins
In the underworld of Belgium’s cattlehormone
mafia, an illegal dealer and an
undercover cop come face-to-face in a crime
investigation. But a dark and unsettling story
about loyalty and friendship unfolds through
their tormented past as childhood friends.
Target audience
Commercial arthouse
Budget
€ 2,200,000
Cast
Matthias Schoenarts,
Jeroen Perceval
who will be dragged along in their wake - a
symbol of hope, even an angel. Or is she…
The tone of the film is dark and tragic,
but at times also funny. Gradually, the story
unfolds and accelerates, with witty dialogue
and violence building up towards a final confrontation.
The action is set in the fields of
Flanders, which counteract the film’s
dynamic voice with mesmerising moments
of deep, uncanny silence.
Writer/Director Michaël R Roskam
As a (very) young man, Michaël R Roskam
was passionate about graphic novels,
comic-strips and cinema. Inspired by the
great Belgian tradition of comic-strip artists
like Hergé, he went to the St Lucas Academy
of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he discovered
painting and contemporary art. He
graduated, but also became involved in writing
fiction, while at the same time continuing
to draw and experimenting with video.
After jobs as a journalist and an advertising
copywriter, he wrote a script for a
short film, Haun. He finally found what he’d
been looking for: movement. Since then,
Roskam has worked as a film-maker.
His second short, Carlo (produced by
CCCP), won several prizes at festivals and
was shown on TV and in cinemas around
Europe. His third, The One Thing to Do, also
produced by CCCP, premiered in December
2005 at the Leuven International Short Film
Festival, where it won the Audience Award.
In November 2007, Roskam went to Los
Angeles to shoot Today Is Friday (produced
by Savage Film), a short based on an
Ernest Hemingway story.
Producer Bart Van Langendonck
After a career in music management and
programming, including 10 years as manager
for choreographer Wim Vandekeybus’s
internationally renowned dance company,
Ultima Vez, Bart Van Langendonck worked
at production company CCCP from September
2002 until September 2006, producing
features, shorts and documentaries.
He launched his own production company
in early 2007. Savage Film is a label of
Savage Productions, producing fiction and
documentary with directors such as Michaël
R Roskam, Fleur Boonman, Wim Vandekeybus,
Frank Theys and Bram Van Paesschen.
Current status
Development support has been secured
from the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds and the
MEDIA Programme (Slate Funding 2007).
The following co-production partners are
attached: Eyeworks Film & TV (Belgium),
Waterland Film (Netherlands), Artémis (Belgium),
Sciapode (France), Kinepolis Film
Distribution (Belgium) and VTM (Belgium).
We are currently awaiting approval for
production support from the VAF (decision
due: October 8) and shooting is planned for
the summer of 2009 in the Flemish-speaking
and French-speaking areas of Belgium.
The total budget is €2.2 million, of which
€80,000 is currently in place.
Aims at the NPP
To meet Dutch distributors, Dutch broadcasters
and sales agents.
Contact
Bart Van Langendonck
Savage Film
Sans Soucisquare 2
1050 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: (32) 476 55 11 53
bart@savagefilm.be
www.savagefilm.be
NPP 2008 • 9