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Best Friend Forever has picked up international rights to Milano, the debut feature from Belgian director Christina Vandekerckhove, and is kicking off sales at the EFM.

The film is about a 12 year-old boy who is able to hear, yet only expresses himself in sign language. As his single father tries to make ends meet he often leaves his son alone with his neighbour. But everything changes when his mother suddenly returns.

Now in post-production, Milano is produced by Jan De Clercq and Annemie Degryse ‘s Lumiere which will also release the film in Benelux. The film stars Flemish star Matteo Simoni,...

Picture: Netflix

Will (also referred to as Wil) has been picked up by Netflix and is set to be released globally on January 31st, 2024. Set in Antwerp, Belgium, the new WWII movie tells the story of an auxiliary policeman working during the Nazi occupation. Here’s what you need to know about the movie, plus some first looks and a clip from the movie.

The movie was first announced to be coming to Netflix via the New on Netflix newsletter for January 2024, including the title with its original name of Wil, which has since been replaced to have two Ls in the Netflix Ui.

Based on the novel by Jeroen Olyslaegers, the movie first saw a limited theatrical release in September 2023 but has been scooped up by Netflix, where it’ll debut as a Netflix Original at the end of January 2024. Per Netflix, here’s the official logline for Will...

Judge Bodil Backer (Bracha van Doesburgh) seemingly has it all: she’s a no-nonsense Judge and has a great home life with her doctor husband Milan (Nasrdin Dchar) and pre-teen son Ben (Damiano Incani).

At the start of director André van Duren’s Erotic Thriller, Bo is preparing for a girls weekend away with her best friend Isabel (Elise Schaap). They leave their husbands behind in Amsterdam, board a train for Bo’s family beach house in Belgium and outline plans for their weekend, which includes a burner phone, a large sum of money, and an expensive suite at a high-end hotel for Isabel.

Faithfully Yours has a fantastic central premise: a few times a year the two women use each other as cover while they cheat on their husbands. One woman will attend a lecture or visit a museum and snap photos to send to the husbands as an alibi.

I'm not the biggest fan of Netflix. I don't want to get into a huge rant about it, but my biggest issue is that here in the Czech Republic, it takes the service forever to upload any new movies. Then, when something fresh finally drops, it's usually something starring Ryan Reynolds, Adam Sandler, or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. I may be exaggerating, but that's what it feels like; too many mediocre Netflix originals and not much in the way of variety beyond the most mainstream of offerings.

To give Netflix its due, it does throw up some surprises from time to time. Given how subtitle-adverse many viewers in English-speaking countries can be, they took a bit of a chance on "Squid Game," but it went on to become a phenomenon and further advanced the cause of the booming Korean entertainment industry. Then there was "Cobra Kai," which sounded a lot...

Wil

A television director for about a decade (including episodes for Peaky Blinders), Tim Mielants got into features with 2019’s Patrick (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival) followed by 2021’s Nobody Has to Know (a non-solo which had its world preem at TIFF). Production on the ambitious WWII drama Wil took place in May of last year in Liege and Poland featuring Stef Aerts, Matteo Simoni, Annelore Crollet, Kevin Janssens, Dirk Roofthooft, Dimitrij Schaad and Pierre Bokma. Producers include Hans Everaert, Guy Goedgezelschap, Tomas Leyers and Jan Segers.

Gist: Based on the bestselling novel by Jeroen Olyslaegers and written by Carl Joos, Wilfried Wils is an auxiliary policeman in Antwerp at the start of the Second World War.…...

Flemish feature has drawn younger audiences to cinemas.

Flemish disco movie and crime thriller Zillion is breaking post-pandemic box office records in Belgium where it has out-performed the release of Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Zillion was released by Brussels-based Kinepolis Film Distribution on October 26 and has been the number one film at the box office ever since, apart from for a few days immediately following the launch of the Black Panther sequel.

The film has reached 510,000 admissions and has taken more than €5.5m at the box office. Precise box office data is not readily available as Belgian...

Gold Derby can exclusively reveal that Donald Glover is entering the “Atlanta” episode “Sinterklaas is Coming to Town” as his 2022 Emmy Awards submission for Best Comedy Actor. This program aired March 24, 2022 and was the second episode of the third season for the FX show.

In this installment, Earnest “Earn” Marks (Glover) receives a call while in Copenhagen that he needs to fly to Amsterdam because his cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) is in jail. Earn bails out Alfred, but later on Alfred claims he won’t perform because the audience contains many people in blackface. Earn gives the news to the venue owner, Dirk (Matteo Simoni), who then chases down Earn and mistakenly attacks a man in blackface because he thinks it’s him.

See 2022 Emmy nominations: Complete list of contenders for 74th Primetime Emmys

This year marks 10 career Emmy nominations for Glover; he won two trophies in 2017 for acting in and directing “Atlanta.

AMC+ announced on Thursday that it has has acquired the rights to three crime drama series: Cold Courage, Kin and Too Close.

The first to premiere on the streaming service is Lionsgate’s Cold Courage, which will hit AMC+ on Thursday, March 11. Based on the award-winning and best-selling novels from Finnish journalist Pekka Hiltunen, Cold Courage follows two women as they collide during a series of murders in present-day London. Mari (Pihla Viitala), a fierce psychologist, and Lia (Sofia Pekkari), a shy graphic artist, are drawn together through the “Studio” – a clandestine group of like-minded people operating off the grid, dedicated to righting the wrongs of the powerful, influential and corrupt.

John Simm appears as populist politician Arthur Fried and joins fellow cast-members Caroline Goodall and Arsher Ali. Jakob Eklund, Peter Coonan and Matteo Simoni also star.

The series was adapted for the screen by David Joss Buckley and Brendan Foley.

Whether you know a lot about bicycle racing or very little, The Racer, written and directed by Kieron J. Walsh, offers a lot to ponder about the sport.

It offers a lot about the mindset of sporting in general, especially when it comes to team sports.

Team sports, whether cycling, car racing, or gymnastics, among a host of others, always have at least one standout, and it's not unique for the other team members to stand back and allow that athlete's star to shine at the behest of their coach and for the best of the team.

The Racer shines a light on Dominique Chabol, a domestique for his team in the 1998 Tour de France.

The race that year was special because the first three legs were completed in Ireland, and it's the first time that Epo doping reared its ugly head.

There was a solid history of doping in cycling,...

This fictional cycling and doping drama focuses on a support rider – an unsung hero who sacrifices his own dreams of winning the yellow jersey

In 1998, a doping scandal rocked the Tour de France when a team masseur was caught with a pharmacy of banned substances in the boot of his car before the first stage in Ireland. The incident is the inspiration for this solid, workmanlike Irish drama with a strong performance by Louis Talpe as Dom Chabol, a fictional Belgian cyclist looking down the barrel of retirement at 38; he just can’t imagine life beyond cycling. And like most of the peloton, he’s doping; everybody’s doing it.

Talpe looks every bit the pro cyclist, lean and light, not a pinch of fat on him. And he plays Chabol with a charisma-free dullness that’s convincing for a sportsman with tunnel vision, blocking out everything non bike-related. The...

Stars: Louis Talpe, Iain Glen, Matteo Simoni, Tara Lee, Karel Roden, Timo Wagner | Written by Kieron J.Walsh, Ciaran Cassidy | Directed by Kieron J.Walsh

It’s been a funny old few years for the Tour De France, with some shocking truths being revealed about racers having taken illegal enhancements. At first it seemed like there was only one or two of the top level guys but then documentary after documentary started bringing the whole era of doping to the forefront and it was revealed that… Well everybody was into it, top to bottom! This is something that the sport is going to have to endure and dare I say it “own it”. It’s done now let’s clean house and move on.

Of course this does pose a little bit of a quandary. How can you “just move on” when there are so many interesting stories that can be told here.

In most sports films it's all about winning. For Dom (Louis Talpe) that has never been the point. He has spent his whole career serving as a domestique - a support rider. It's his job to cycle just ahead of flashy younger teammate Lupo (Matteo Simoni) to catch the wind for him and open up space. Now in his late thirties, he's nearing the end of his viable career and finding the role increasingly taxing. As he prepares for the Tour de France, he also harbours a secret desire to wear the yellow jersey just once.

This is the late Nineties, and anyone who knows cycling or who remembers the news from that era will be alert to the fact that a big doping scandal is about to break. The film wisely steers away from that well-trodden territory but explores what preceded it: the culture of doping itself, not as a.

Sales also made to Latin America, France, Australia-New Zealand.

Vertigo Releasing has acquired UK and Ireland distribution rights from Independent to Kieron J. Walsh’s cycling drama The Racer.

It is scheduled for a theatrical and streaming release in the UK on December 18; Vertigo is partnering with Wildcard Distribution on the Irish release, for which a date is not yet set. Cinemas are presently closed in Ireland.

Independent has also closed deals for Australia and New Zealand (Madman Entertainment); German-speaking territories (Ascot Elite); Latin America and Africa (Turner International); Portugal (Nos Lusomundo); Scandinavia (Selmer Media); France (Epicentre and Mondex et...

"Why risk your life like that?" Gravitas has unveiled an official US trailer for indie cycling drama titled The Racer, made by filmmaker Kieron J. Walsh, and supported by Screen Ireland and Blinder Films. It was supposed to be premiere at this year's SXSW Film Festival, now it'll be on VOD this month. The film tells the true story of a professional cyclist named Dom Chabol, a Belgian support rider. After being dropped from the team on his last race in 1998, he is reinstated following a doping error. He's always been one of the best support riders ("domestiques") on the Tour de France, but had dreams to win it himself. The film stars Louis Talpe as Dom, along with Matteo Simoni, Tara Lee, Iain Glen, and Karel Roden. We featured a sales trailer for this earlier in the summer already. It looks like a solid film, if not a bit depressing,...

"Why risk your life like that?" Screen has revealed the first promo trailer for an indie cycling drama titled The Racer, made by filmmaker Kieron J. Walsh, and supported by Screen Ireland and Blinder Films. This trailer is to help promote the film as it is being sold at the Cannes Market coming up this month, although it has a Us distributor already, but no release date set yet. The film tells the true story of a professional cyclist named Dom Chabol, a Belgian support rider. After being dropped from the team on his last race in 1998, he is reinstated following a doping error. He's always been one of the best support riders ("domestiques") on the Tour de France, but had dreams to win it himself one day. Starring Louis Talpe as Dom, along with Matteo Simoni, Tara Lee, Iain Glen, and Karel Roden. This seems to be distancing itself...

Independent will market premiere the film at the Cannes online Marché.

Independent has signed a North American deal with Gravitas Ventures for Kieron J. Walsh’s Irish cycling drama The Racer.

The London-based sales outfit is showcasing the film at next week’s Cannes online Marché. Screen exclusively reveal the first trailer for the film, above.

Set in summer 1998, The Racer follows late-career cyclist Dom Chabol, who has been one of the best support riders on the Tour de France for 20 years, but secretly harbours a desire to wear the yellow jersey once before his career is over. Walsh wrote the script with Ciaran Cassidy.

Documentaries and dramas impressed industry professionals at the Ghent event.

Flanders Image’s CONNeXT event in Ghent showcased documentary films for the first time, some of which impressed industry professionals even more than the usual fiction projects.

Pieter Jan De Pue’s Four Brothers, about four Ukrainian siblings torn apart by war, won the work-in-progress award.

The international jury praised how “the story ambitions and scope of the project leaves an undeniable impression…how war can tear apart even the tightest of bonds.”

Bart Van Langendonck of leading Belgian production company Savage Film produces. The project previously won the Cph:Dox Eurimges Co-Production Award.

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Flanders Image’s CONNeXT event in Ghent showcased documentary films for the first time, some of which impressed industry professionals even more than the usual fiction projects.

Pieter Jan De Pue’s Four Brothers, about four Ukrainian siblings torn apart by war, won the work-in-progress award.

The international jury praised how “the story ambitions and scope of the project leaves an undeniable impression…how war can tear apart even the tightest of bonds.”

Bart Van Langendonck of leading Belgian production company Savage Film produces. The project previously won the Cph:Dox Eurimges Co-Production Award.

Another doc, Janet van den Brand...

Details of new film and TV sales arm, Dfw International, also revealed.

Benelux-based Dutch FilmWorks has picked up Barry Levinson’s Harry Haft and Liam Neeson thriller The Ice Road for release in the territory, following deals in Toronto.

Boxing biopic Harry Haft stars Ben Foster, Peter Sarsgaard and Danny De Vito, and is handled by Endeavor Content. The Ice Road was sold through Lisa Wilson’s Solution Entertainment.

Willem Pruijssers, CEO of Dutch FilmWorks, also revealed further details of its new film and TV sales arm, Dfw International, which will attend its first market, Mipcom, next month.

The...

With the 2019 edition of the Tour de France having drawn to a close, the first image of “The Racer,” a film set during the notorious 1998 edition of the iconic bike race, has been released.

The real-life Tour de France was tainted by doping scandals in 1998, subsequently earning the nickname the Tour de Dopage. The opening stages of the world’s biggest bike race took place in Ireland in that year, before moving to France.

Kieron J. Walsh’s “The Racer” follows fictional Belgian rider Dom Chabol. He has been a domestique, a support rider in cycling parlance, for years. With the Tour about to start he is dropped from his team. After a doping issue disqualifies a teammate, he finds himself back in the saddle and with a shot at achieving his secret desire to wear the yellow jersey, which is sported by the race leader.

Louis Talpe, who starred...

Louis Talpe, Tara Lee, Matteo Simoni, Iain Glen board film’s cast.

London-based sales and production outfit Independent has boarded cycling drama The Racer and will be introducing the project to buyers in Cannes.

Louis Talpe (Of Kings And Prophets), Tara Lee (A Date For Mad Mary), Matteo Simoni (Gangsta), Iain Glen (Game Of Thrones) and Karel Roden (The Bourne Supremacy) lead the cast of the feature, which is being produced by Katie Holly (Love & Friendship) and Yvonne Donohoe of Irish outfit Blinder Films.

Jesus Gonzalez-Elvira of Calach Films is co-producing with Caviar Films’ Robin Kerremans and Dimitri Verbeeck.

The number of big-ticket dramas coming to the international market continues to increase as viewers embrace shows from all corners and consume them on a dizzying range of channels and platforms.

In a cluttered landscape, movie-inspired shows and book adaptations have built-in marketing appeal and bring a fan base, which is one way to cut through. There are multiple examples of both at MipTV,

from “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “To Catch a Thief,” to Canneseries opener “Vernon Subutex,” based on the hip French novel.

“The Walking Dead” producer Channing Powell envisages a dystopian future about a technology embedded inside our heads, while other series tackle the populist politics taking hold in many parts of the world. Immigration tales from the past, but with a modern-day relevance are also to the fore.

As thousands of acquisitions execs land in Cannes with checkbooks at the ready, Variety highlights the scripted...

John Simm plays a rabble-rousing populist politician in “Cold Courage,” and Lionsgate has stepped up and taken international rights to the series.

Based on the series of novels by Pekka Hiltunen, the drama is billed as the biggest yet out of Finland and will bow on the Viaplay streaming service in Scandinavia. With a cast from all over Europe and a shoot spanning Belgium, Finland, Ireland, and the U.K., “Cold Courage” is international in scope and ambition.

That was part of the appeal for Simm, a familiar face on British TV, playing The Master in “Doctor Who” and starring in a host of other shows for British networks. “There was a point I was on BBC and ITV at the same time and that was a bit much,” he told Variety. “I thought it would be nice to step away from that for a little bit and do something I haven’t done,...

To celebrate the home entertainment release of Gangsta, available on Digital HD 19th October and on DVD 29th October, we have a copy of the DVD up for grabs, courtesy of Signature Entertainment!

From the up-and-coming directors of Bad Boys for Life and rumoured to be attached to Beverly Hills Cop 4, a hapless group of underdogs bite off more than they can chew in a wannabe gangster story filled with outrageous humour and chaotic gangland violence alike.

Inspired by their experiences as Moroccans growing up in Belgium, El Arbi and Fallah pull no punches in lifting the curtain on not just the criminal underbelly of Antwerp’s drug trade, but also the prejudices ingrained in even those we’re supposed to trust, in this criminally hilarious gangster comedy. Clutching his Gucci cap like a treasured status symbol, Matteo Simoni’s lead performance imbues wannabe gangster Adamo with an adorable Ali...

Author: Jon Lyus

The 21st edition of the European Shooting Stars was held at the Berlin Film Festival this past weekend, supporting new talent from across Europe. Past Shooting Stars include Tomb Raider’s Alicia Vikander, Game of Thrones’ Pilou Asbæk, Alba Rohrwacher and 007 James Bond himself, Daniel Craig.

The select group were introduced to the Berlinale Palast stage by former Italian Shooting Star Alba Rohrwacher – who recently attended the World Premiere of her new film Daughter of Mine, which is screening as part of the Official Competition.

The prestigious nomination will surely act as a springboard to bigger things for all those gathered here. The full list includes Luna Wedler (Switzerland), Matteo Simoni (Belgium), Alba August (Sweden), Réka Tenki (Hungary), Dieter Kosslick (Festival Director of Berlin Film Festival), Michaela Coel (United Kingdom), Eili Harboe (Norway), Irakli Kvirikadze (Georgia), Matilda De Angelis (Italy), Jonas Smulders (The Netherlands) and Franz Rogowski...

The 10 young European actors selected for this year’s Shooting Stars initiative are in town to meet the global film industry.

While young acting talent is spotlighted annually by initiatives such as Bafta’s Rising Star award and Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow, European Film Promotion’s (Efp) Shooting Stars programme is the most visible celebration of next-generation thespian talent allied to an A-list film festival.

Each year, 10 young European actors are awarded the Shooting Star accolade at the Berlinale, a five-person jury having selected the winners from submissions by the 37 Efp member countries. The recipients travel to Berlin to meet producers, casting directors and other film industry figures, and are feted at a ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, which this year takes place on Monday February 19.

This year’s line-up includes UK Screen Star Of Tomorrow Michaela Coel, Norway’s Thelma star Eili Harboe, Hungary’s Réka Tenki, who appeared in last...

The young acting talent will be presented on the opening weekend of next year’s Berlinale.

Source: Efp

European Film Promotion (Efp) has revealed the 10 young actors it has selected for the 2018 edition of European Shooting Stars, which highlights up-and-coming talent from the region.

The list includes British award-winning actress, playwright, screenwriter and poet Michaela Coel. She is best known for her BAFTA-winning hit-series Chewing Gum, and was named a Screen Star Of Tomorrow this year.

Other actors on the list include Eili Harboe, who stars in the Norwegian festival hit Thelma, and Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, nominated for two David di Donatello awards for Italian Race.

The actors will be presented to the film industry, public and international press at next year’s Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 15 - 25, 2018).

This year’s Shooting Stars jury included former Shooting Star Eduardo Noriega from Spain, director Mijke de Jong from The Netherlands,...

The young acting talent will be presented on the opening weekend of next year’s Berlinale.

Source: Efp

European Film Promotion (Efp) has revealed the 10 young actors it has selected for the 2018 edition of European Shooting Stars, which highlights up-and-coming talent from the region.

The list includes British award-winning actress, playwright, screenwriter and poet Michaela Coel. She is best known for her BAFTA-winning hit-series Chewing Gum, and was named a Screen Star Of Tomorrow this year.

Other actors on the list include Eili Harboe, who stars in the Norwegian festival hit Thelma, and Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, nominated for two David di Donatello awards for Italian Race.

The actors will be presented to the film industry, public and international press at next year’s Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 15 - 25, 2018).

This year’s Shooting Stars jury included former Shooting Star Eduardo Noriega from Spain, director Mijke de Jong from The Netherlands, casting director and [link...