Belgium’s Panenka, producers of recent Vrt breakout hit “Two Summers” – which premiered last week to a jaw-dropping 51% market share in its prime-time slot and which will soon be released worldwide by Netflix – will virtually pitch one of their upcoming projects, “This is Not a Murder Mystery,” at Berlin Co-Pro Series.
One of 10 such projects set for this event, Co-Pro Series marks the first public pitch for “Tinamm,” with the creative team looking to the right co-production and distribution partner to help realize their murder mystery series. Panenka producer Kristoffel Mertens hosts the virtual Co-Pro pitch with co-creators Paul Baeten and Christophe Dirickx.
Baeten is a novelist, essayist and TV screenwriter, whose credits include two seasons of the acclaimed drama series “Over Water” and the aforementioned “Two Summers.” Dirickx has written and produced several feature films, including Cannes players “The Misfortunates” from director Felix van Groeningen and Frank Van Passel’s “Manneken Pis.
One of 10 such projects set for this event, Co-Pro Series marks the first public pitch for “Tinamm,” with the creative team looking to the right co-production and distribution partner to help realize their murder mystery series. Panenka producer Kristoffel Mertens hosts the virtual Co-Pro pitch with co-creators Paul Baeten and Christophe Dirickx.
Baeten is a novelist, essayist and TV screenwriter, whose credits include two seasons of the acclaimed drama series “Over Water” and the aforementioned “Two Summers.” Dirickx has written and produced several feature films, including Cannes players “The Misfortunates” from director Felix van Groeningen and Frank Van Passel’s “Manneken Pis.
- 2/15/2022
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Thriller series “Red Light” world premieres Sunday as part of the competition section of Canneseries. Variety spoke to its stars and co-creators Halina Reijn and Carice van Houten, and writer Esther Gerritsen.
In the show, Van Houten, who played Melisandre in “Game of Thrones,” plays Sylvia, a brothel madam in Antwerp’s red light district. Reijn is opera singer Esther, and Maaike Neuville plays Evi, a woman struggling to be both a good mother and a detective solving brutal crimes.
The three women get caught up in the world of human trafficking and prostitution when Esther’s husband – a philosophy professor – disappears. From completely different backgrounds the lives of these women intertwine and they find out they need each other to get out of the difficult situations they’re trapped in.
The show is written by Gerritsen, alongside Christophe Dirickx, Frank Ketelaar and Reijn. The directors are Wouter Bouvijn and Anke Blondé.
In the show, Van Houten, who played Melisandre in “Game of Thrones,” plays Sylvia, a brothel madam in Antwerp’s red light district. Reijn is opera singer Esther, and Maaike Neuville plays Evi, a woman struggling to be both a good mother and a detective solving brutal crimes.
The three women get caught up in the world of human trafficking and prostitution when Esther’s husband – a philosophy professor – disappears. From completely different backgrounds the lives of these women intertwine and they find out they need each other to get out of the difficult situations they’re trapped in.
The show is written by Gerritsen, alongside Christophe Dirickx, Frank Ketelaar and Reijn. The directors are Wouter Bouvijn and Anke Blondé.
- 10/10/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Federation Entertainment has acquired international distribution rights to “Red Light,” a women-driven series created by Carice van Houten (“Game of Thrones”) and Halina Reijn (‘Instinct’) which will world premiere in competition at the third edition of Canneseries.
The 10-part Belgian/Dutch co-production, “Red Light” portrays three women with completely different backgrounds who get caught up in a world of human trafficking, prostitution and exploitation between Amsterdam and Antwerp. Sylvia, a prostitute, runs a brothel with her shady boyfriend, Esther is a well known soprano and comes from a wealthy environment and Evi is a policewoman trying to combine a major case with her family life.
“We have a mission to tell stories from a female perspective. ‘Red Light’ is exactly that: a story about women, sexuality and power but with enormous urgency,” said van Houten and Reijn.
“We’re very proud that, after a wonderful development and shoot with the whole team,...
The 10-part Belgian/Dutch co-production, “Red Light” portrays three women with completely different backgrounds who get caught up in a world of human trafficking, prostitution and exploitation between Amsterdam and Antwerp. Sylvia, a prostitute, runs a brothel with her shady boyfriend, Esther is a well known soprano and comes from a wealthy environment and Evi is a policewoman trying to combine a major case with her family life.
“We have a mission to tell stories from a female perspective. ‘Red Light’ is exactly that: a story about women, sexuality and power but with enormous urgency,” said van Houten and Reijn.
“We’re very proud that, after a wonderful development and shoot with the whole team,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***½
Ah, family -- what a goldmine of fodder for our future creative life! If only we can get through the trying times of growing up. A sentiment that comes to mind as you view the new Belgian film The Misfortunates, the bleak but often quite funny and sometimes very moving look at a hard-scrabble childhood among a family of wastrels.
How life becomes art (and how and why a young boy grows into his older, not-so-happy self) is given wonderful specificity by director/co-writer (with Christophe Dirickx) Felix Van Groeningen, from the novel by Dimitri Verhulst. We can see with surprising clarity not only how art is created (and expanded upon) from life but also how difficult it is to become something other than the child we were. Older? Yes. Different, better? Not so much.
The Misfortunates is set in a low-end...
Rating (out of 5): ***½
Ah, family -- what a goldmine of fodder for our future creative life! If only we can get through the trying times of growing up. A sentiment that comes to mind as you view the new Belgian film The Misfortunates, the bleak but often quite funny and sometimes very moving look at a hard-scrabble childhood among a family of wastrels.
How life becomes art (and how and why a young boy grows into his older, not-so-happy self) is given wonderful specificity by director/co-writer (with Christophe Dirickx) Felix Van Groeningen, from the novel by Dimitri Verhulst. We can see with surprising clarity not only how art is created (and expanded upon) from life but also how difficult it is to become something other than the child we were. Older? Yes. Different, better? Not so much.
The Misfortunates is set in a low-end...
- 12/7/2010
- by underdog
- GreenCine
The Misfortunates DVDDirector: Felix van Groeningen.
Writer: Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Verhulst and Felix van Groeningen.
The Misfortunates is a Belgium language film from director Felix van Groeningen. The film recently had a showing on DVD September 28th through Evokative Films in Canada, with Neoclassic Films handling Us distribution. A real life look at writer Dimitri Verhulst's early life, The Misfortunates shows the stumbling blocks of lower class life, which involves alcoholism, family dysfunction and poverty. The Strobbe's, who are the focus of the film, band together through drink, but also through a common bond of love.
The film begins with a young Kleine Strobbe of thirteen living with his alcoholic father, where there are no signs of a mother. Kleine's mother left the family at an early age and now Kleine is raised by three more family members who love strong drink, his three uncles. Soon there are misadventures...
Writer: Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Verhulst and Felix van Groeningen.
The Misfortunates is a Belgium language film from director Felix van Groeningen. The film recently had a showing on DVD September 28th through Evokative Films in Canada, with Neoclassic Films handling Us distribution. A real life look at writer Dimitri Verhulst's early life, The Misfortunates shows the stumbling blocks of lower class life, which involves alcoholism, family dysfunction and poverty. The Strobbe's, who are the focus of the film, band together through drink, but also through a common bond of love.
The film begins with a young Kleine Strobbe of thirteen living with his alcoholic father, where there are no signs of a mother. Kleine's mother left the family at an early age and now Kleine is raised by three more family members who love strong drink, his three uncles. Soon there are misadventures...
- 10/19/2010
- by 28DaysLaterAnalysis@gmail.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Left Bank
Stars: Eline Kuppens, Matthias Schoienaerts, Tom De Wispalaere, Marilou Mermans | Written by Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis, Pieter Van Hees | Directed by Pieter Van Hees
Quite often I find the state of the modern horror movie intensely depressing, with far too many flaccid remakes, sequels and shiny nonsense that lack tension, pace and good scares. However once again a European film has restored my faith and brought a shiver of disquiet on a bright summer morning.
Left Bank (Linkeroever) is the first full length movie by Pieter Van Hees, which he intends to be part of a trilogy called Anatomy of Love and Pain, focuses on 22 year old aspiring athlete Marie (Eline Kuppens). Freshly qualified for a European championship event, she is devastated when a mystery virus stops her from training, but finds solace in the arms of a young archer, Bobby (Matthias Schoienaerts). He invites her to stay...
Stars: Eline Kuppens, Matthias Schoienaerts, Tom De Wispalaere, Marilou Mermans | Written by Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis, Pieter Van Hees | Directed by Pieter Van Hees
Quite often I find the state of the modern horror movie intensely depressing, with far too many flaccid remakes, sequels and shiny nonsense that lack tension, pace and good scares. However once again a European film has restored my faith and brought a shiver of disquiet on a bright summer morning.
Left Bank (Linkeroever) is the first full length movie by Pieter Van Hees, which he intends to be part of a trilogy called Anatomy of Love and Pain, focuses on 22 year old aspiring athlete Marie (Eline Kuppens). Freshly qualified for a European championship event, she is devastated when a mystery virus stops her from training, but finds solace in the arms of a young archer, Bobby (Matthias Schoienaerts). He invites her to stay...
- 5/22/2010
- by Sarah
- Nerdly
Year: 2008
Release date: Unknown
Directors: Pieter Van Hees
Writers: Pieter Van Hees, Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis and Bert Hamelinck
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: cyberhal
Rating: 7.7 out of 10
A dark movie from the dark country of Belgium. Pieter Van Hees's beautifully shot debut feature is a story of horror that draws its power from slow build and unsettling suggestion. You don't get terror or slasher horror FX, but you do get great suspense and a thought provoking story. Think Polanski's Rosemarys Baby. The dark tone of the story is reflected in the atmospheric cinematography, and really hats off to lens man Nicolas Karakatsanis, who was responsible for the equally dark Small Gods which we reviewed back in Spring 2008. Left Bank was premiered in the USA at Fantastic Fest last September.
Marie (Eline Kuppens) is a dedicated track athlete. One day, she suddenly collapses due to an infection in her immune system,...
Release date: Unknown
Directors: Pieter Van Hees
Writers: Pieter Van Hees, Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis and Bert Hamelinck
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: cyberhal
Rating: 7.7 out of 10
A dark movie from the dark country of Belgium. Pieter Van Hees's beautifully shot debut feature is a story of horror that draws its power from slow build and unsettling suggestion. You don't get terror or slasher horror FX, but you do get great suspense and a thought provoking story. Think Polanski's Rosemarys Baby. The dark tone of the story is reflected in the atmospheric cinematography, and really hats off to lens man Nicolas Karakatsanis, who was responsible for the equally dark Small Gods which we reviewed back in Spring 2008. Left Bank was premiered in the USA at Fantastic Fest last September.
Marie (Eline Kuppens) is a dedicated track athlete. One day, she suddenly collapses due to an infection in her immune system,...
- 1/11/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Hollywood Film Festival
Favourite Films, Dan Films, Isabella Films and Samsa Film
"Villa des Roses" is an exquisite postcard from the past. Belgian director Frank Van Passel and cinematographer Jan Vancaillie designed the film so that each scene -- indeed each shot -- unfolds like a photograph from the early 20th century. Some scenes are black-and-white with a lovely, pale color tint, while others appear as rotogravures from newspapers of that era. Shots of the Paris skyline are indeed stamped postcards come magically to life. This not only evokes a time and place but also gives the drama a melancholy mood as we watch a way of life in Europe about to come to a violent end.
The time is 1913, and the continent, after years of peace, is on the cusp of a war that will destroy a generation and usher in mass annihilation. The place is Paris, specifically a boarding house where a beautiful housemaid (Julie Delpy) joins the staff and with her very presence unsettles the delicate stagnation of its inhabitants. One man (Shaun Dingwall), a German, sets out to seduce her, only to do the one thing he cannot afford to do -- fall in love.
Everyone is, of course, doomed as World War I looms. (The film actually begins in the trenches, the carnage under way, as the German prepares to march to his fate carrying a photo of his beloved.) Christophe Dirickx's script, based on a novel by Willem Eisschot, is meant to illustrate the nonchalant way the modern age, with all its horrific instruments of destruction, crept upon the unsuspecting citizens of Europe. The overwhelming impression left by the film, though, is that of lives about to alter forever and for some to end abruptly.
After an initial scene in French, this Belgian film switches to English in a bid to increase its chances of North American distribution. While that is a long shot, this deserving film would certainly find a small but enthusiastic audience appreciative of the loving care that has gone into its dark, moody lighting and pristine though antique images of a lost world. It is a gorgeous film.
Favourite Films, Dan Films, Isabella Films and Samsa Film
"Villa des Roses" is an exquisite postcard from the past. Belgian director Frank Van Passel and cinematographer Jan Vancaillie designed the film so that each scene -- indeed each shot -- unfolds like a photograph from the early 20th century. Some scenes are black-and-white with a lovely, pale color tint, while others appear as rotogravures from newspapers of that era. Shots of the Paris skyline are indeed stamped postcards come magically to life. This not only evokes a time and place but also gives the drama a melancholy mood as we watch a way of life in Europe about to come to a violent end.
The time is 1913, and the continent, after years of peace, is on the cusp of a war that will destroy a generation and usher in mass annihilation. The place is Paris, specifically a boarding house where a beautiful housemaid (Julie Delpy) joins the staff and with her very presence unsettles the delicate stagnation of its inhabitants. One man (Shaun Dingwall), a German, sets out to seduce her, only to do the one thing he cannot afford to do -- fall in love.
Everyone is, of course, doomed as World War I looms. (The film actually begins in the trenches, the carnage under way, as the German prepares to march to his fate carrying a photo of his beloved.) Christophe Dirickx's script, based on a novel by Willem Eisschot, is meant to illustrate the nonchalant way the modern age, with all its horrific instruments of destruction, crept upon the unsuspecting citizens of Europe. The overwhelming impression left by the film, though, is that of lives about to alter forever and for some to end abruptly.
After an initial scene in French, this Belgian film switches to English in a bid to increase its chances of North American distribution. While that is a long shot, this deserving film would certainly find a small but enthusiastic audience appreciative of the loving care that has gone into its dark, moody lighting and pristine though antique images of a lost world. It is a gorgeous film.
- 10/7/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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