Strand Releasing has acquired North American rights from sales company Films Boutique to tender coming-of-age drama “Young Hearts” by Belgian newcomer Anthony Schatteman, which recently launched from the Berlin Film Festival.
Schatteman’s standout debut follows a 13-year-old boy named Elias, who feels drawn to his new neighbor, Alexander, and must overcome his conflicted feelings about being attracted to another boy. “Young Hearts” won a special mention in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlinale in February and has now been selected by Cannes Écran Junior, the Cannes Film Festival sidebar section showcasing films for all audiences that have a specific cultural and educational value for younger viewers.
The film will soon have its North American premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival in May.
“Casting directors take note: Lou Goossens [who plays Elias] in this first feature film role is an actor to watch out for,” wrote Variety critic Catherine Bray in her “Young Hearts” review,...
Schatteman’s standout debut follows a 13-year-old boy named Elias, who feels drawn to his new neighbor, Alexander, and must overcome his conflicted feelings about being attracted to another boy. “Young Hearts” won a special mention in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlinale in February and has now been selected by Cannes Écran Junior, the Cannes Film Festival sidebar section showcasing films for all audiences that have a specific cultural and educational value for younger viewers.
The film will soon have its North American premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival in May.
“Casting directors take note: Lou Goossens [who plays Elias] in this first feature film role is an actor to watch out for,” wrote Variety critic Catherine Bray in her “Young Hearts” review,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Films Boutique has sold Anthony Schatteman’s Berlinale title Young Hearts to a raft of distributors around the world, including key European territories.
Belgian director Schatteman’s film, which centres on a 13-year-old boy who feels attracted to his new neighbour, won a special mention in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlinale.
Young Hearts has been acquired by I Wonder Pictures in Italy, Flamingo Films for Spain, Epicentre (France), Angel Distribution (Denmark), Salzgeber (Germany and Austria), Cinobo (Greece), Lev Cinema (Israel), Cine Canibal (Latin America), Lucky Dogs (Sweden), MCf Megacom (ex-Yugoslavia) and A2B Entertainment (Switzerland).
Negotiations are...
Belgian director Schatteman’s film, which centres on a 13-year-old boy who feels attracted to his new neighbour, won a special mention in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlinale.
Young Hearts has been acquired by I Wonder Pictures in Italy, Flamingo Films for Spain, Epicentre (France), Angel Distribution (Denmark), Salzgeber (Germany and Austria), Cinobo (Greece), Lev Cinema (Israel), Cine Canibal (Latin America), Lucky Dogs (Sweden), MCf Megacom (ex-Yugoslavia) and A2B Entertainment (Switzerland).
Negotiations are...
- 3/6/2024
- ScreenDaily
Young Hearts is a sweet-natured coming-of-age drama that sees its 14-year-old gay protagonist Elias (Lou Goossens) coming to terms with this sexual identity after he realises he is attracted to his new neighbour Alexander (Marius De Saeger). Writer/director Anthony Schatteman - who won a Kplus Special Mention for his film from the youth jury in Berlin - drew on his own teenage experience for the film, which emphasises romance and is aimed at a younger audience. We caught up with the Belgian filmmaker to talk about young love and being yourself.
It seems this is a very personal story for you, not just emotionally but biographically?
Anthony Schatteman: That’s right. Initially, I really wanted to make a movie for the younger version of myself, because when I grew up, I had some questions about being an...
It seems this is a very personal story for you, not just emotionally but biographically?
Anthony Schatteman: That’s right. Initially, I really wanted to make a movie for the younger version of myself, because when I grew up, I had some questions about being an...
- 2/26/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Casting directors take note: Lou Goossens in this first feature film role is an actor to watch out for, naturalistic and able to convey subtle shades of inner turmoil, despite his young age. Goossens plays Elias, a 14-year-old living in rural Belgium with his loving and mostly normal family — the slight exception being his father, Luk (Geert Van Rampelberg), who, while a pretty straight arrow in a personal sense, is enjoying unlikely success as a midlife pop sensation, with a hit single in the pipeline.
The film opens with dad belting out his signature number, which is all about how “first love lights the fire in your heart,” which of course turns out to be a decent summary of the film. Shortly after, the family get a new neighbor in the form of Alexander (Marius De Saeger).
Elias lacks the emotional vocabulary to articulate quite what the sense of awkwardness...
The film opens with dad belting out his signature number, which is all about how “first love lights the fire in your heart,” which of course turns out to be a decent summary of the film. Shortly after, the family get a new neighbor in the form of Alexander (Marius De Saeger).
Elias lacks the emotional vocabulary to articulate quite what the sense of awkwardness...
- 2/18/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
This coming-of-age drama gently probes the insecurities experienced by a teenager as he explores his sexuality while, thankfully, not representing him as some sort of tragic figure as is still so frequently the case in cinema. It may be a little sentimental at the edges, but the heart of Anthony Schatteman’s film is in the right place.
Elias lives with his mum (Emilie De Roo), dad (Geert Van Rampelberg) and older brother in the Dutch countryside. Life is fairly unremarkable, save for the fact his dad is a semi-famous singer. Generally speaking, Elias kicks about with his gang of pals, including his sort-of girlfriend Valerie (Saar Rogiers) in between visits to the farm his grandad (Dirk Van Dijck) owns.
Into this mix arrives Alexander (Marius De Saeger), a new neighbour from...
Elias lives with his mum (Emilie De Roo), dad (Geert Van Rampelberg) and older brother in the Dutch countryside. Life is fairly unremarkable, save for the fact his dad is a semi-famous singer. Generally speaking, Elias kicks about with his gang of pals, including his sort-of girlfriend Valerie (Saar Rogiers) in between visits to the farm his grandad (Dirk Van Dijck) owns.
Into this mix arrives Alexander (Marius De Saeger), a new neighbour from...
- 2/17/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Berlin-based Films Boutique has boarded Anthony Schatteman’s Young Hearts, which world premieres next month in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus strand.
Young Hearts centres on a 13-year-old boy who feels attracted to his new neighbour. The film marks the directorial debut of Belgian director Anthony Schatteman and won the work in progress award at Connext 2023. Schatteman most recently directed the Irish series Northern Lights for Lionsgate. His youth series Panna was released in 2021, airing on Goplay.be for Sbs Belgium, and his series 2de Zit played Belgian streaming platform Streamz.
Young Hearts’ stars Lou Goossens, Marius De Saeger, Geert Van Rampelberg,...
Young Hearts centres on a 13-year-old boy who feels attracted to his new neighbour. The film marks the directorial debut of Belgian director Anthony Schatteman and won the work in progress award at Connext 2023. Schatteman most recently directed the Irish series Northern Lights for Lionsgate. His youth series Panna was released in 2021, airing on Goplay.be for Sbs Belgium, and his series 2de Zit played Belgian streaming platform Streamz.
Young Hearts’ stars Lou Goossens, Marius De Saeger, Geert Van Rampelberg,...
- 1/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
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