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Things have been almost frighteningly quiet at this year’s MIPTV international television market, which runs through Wednesday in Cannes, but a trickle of deal announcements suggests that while cutbacks and cost-cutting may be the order of the day, some business is still being done.

French giant Studiocanal on Tuesday unveiled a flurry of territory sales for two new Belgium thrillers, The Crash and 1985, both based on real-life events, that are part of the company’s MIPTV slate.

The Crash is a dramatization of the 1992 airline disaster, in which El Al Flight 1862 to Tel Aviv crashed into two jam-packed residential high-rises in the suburbs of Amsterdam. 1985 tells the story of Belgium’s most notorious, unsolved crime spree involving a series of violent attacks, believed to be carried out by three men, which resulted in the death of 28 people.

Sbs Australia, Canal+ in France, Disney+ and BeTV in Belgium, Germany’s...

In the fourth round of the 2019 Film Production Incentive, contributions were made to 12 features, one animated movie, one drama series and one documentary series. The Netherlands Film Fund, the country's main film agency, has announced the recipients of its latest Film Production Incentive. The fourth slate of funding will support the making of 15 new audiovisual projects, including ten international co-productions. These contributions will generate over €24.8 million in production expenditure across the entire spectrum of the Dutch film industry. The big winners of this slate of funding are two high-end TV series – namely, Niek Koppen and Lourens Blok's The Story of the Netherlands, and the second season of Van der Valk, the director of which is yet to be disclosed. The first project, penned by Marteen van der Duin, and co-produced by Pupkin Film and Tuvalu Media, is a ten-episode documentary series exploring how...

Federation Entertainment has picked up worldwide rights for “Amsterdam Vice,” a crime thriller series which will work as a prequel to A.C. Baantjer’s popular Dutch book franchise.

“Amsterdam Vice” is set in the roaring 80’s, in the center of Amsterdam, where modern life clashes with the old village mentality. The series follows Jud Cox, a detective who has just been promoted to the toughest department within the capital cities’ police forces, and paired with another cop. Together they are investigating a murder case which leads them to discover that an attack is being plotted on the coronation day of Princess Beatrix.

Federation Entertainment, which will start pre-selling the series at MipTV, said “Amsterdam Vice” will be a “character-driven drama, starring two unlikely detectives, one from the city and one from the country, much like Amsterdam itself: gritty, yet warm-hearted and witty.”

The series is being produced by Rachel van Bommel,...

Taking a premise familiar from the likes of Memento, Paycheck, Dark City and others - a protagonist who must piece together who they are from fragmentary clues while on the run from others who know far, far more than they do - Lourens Blok's adaptation of Mirjam Mous' novel Boy 7 appears to put a very slick and action packed spin on the proceedings.When Sam regains consciousness in the middle of a crowded subway, he doesn't know how he got there, where he came from nor his own name. He frantically searches for his identity, using the contents of his backpack. Slowly but surely he realizes his life is in great danger.Though there are no subtitles on the freshly released trailer there's still plenty to...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Berlinale adds 17 features to the Generation programme, aimed at children and youths, including the European premiere of a feature co-directed by Flight of the Conchords Jemaine Clement.

A total of 60 short and full-length films from 35 countries have been selected for the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions at the Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16). They include five long and nine short animated films.

Section head Maryanne Redpath said: “This diversity transcends all limits, in content, imagery, narrative structure and rhythm. Each of these animated gems creates its own universe and is a fantastic cinematic adventure, not just for children.”

The selection includes What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary that follows the struggles of a group of New Zealand–based vampires to understand modern society and adapt to the ever-changing world around them. The ensemble includes Flights of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement, who co-directs alongside Taika Waititi.

This year, Generation will be...