Flanders Image unveils CONNeXT’s full film line-up

• one-third of the directors presenting projects are women
• about half of the titles are first features
• three Oscar®-nominated directors present new projects and work
• several festival favourites are back with new projects 
• more youth-oriented and animation features
• close to 75 international festival curators, sales agents and buyers are confirmed

BRUSSELS/GHENT, 4 September 2017. Flanders Image has unveiled the full line-up of features to be presented — either in full, as a work in progress or as a pitch — at the second outing of its invitation-only networking event CONNeXT (8-11 October). Among the titles is new work from established filmmakers, including Oscar®-nominated directors Stijn Coninx, Dominique Deruddere and Michaël R. Roskam, as well as projects from a number of exciting up-and-coming filmmakers. 
 
It promises to be a great autumn for Flemish film, with Michaël R. Roskam’s Racer and the Jailbird screening in Venice and Toronto, and Gilles Coulier’s debut feature Cargo in Competition in San Sebastián and London. At CONNeXT, festival curators, sales agents and buyers are offered a chance to get a glimpse of what is coming up in 2018 and beyond.
 
Flanders Image is particularly proud of the fact that one-third of the directors presenting projects at CONNeXT this year are women, about half of them making their feature debut. Indeed, almost half of all the titles being pitched or presented as works in progress or completed films are first features. Several of these filmmakers have already made their name with television dramas, including Tim Mielants — who has directed such series as Cordon, Peaky Blinders 3 and episodes of Legion and The Tunnel — and Jan Matthys (The Emperor of Taste, In Flanders Fields, Shetland, Our Girl).
 
The organisers are especially glad to welcome the return of established names such as Oscar®-nominated directors Stijn Coninx, Dominique Deruddere and Michaël R Roskam whose latest, Racer and the Jailbird, this year’s Belgian Oscar® submission, will be screening.

There are also new projects from festival favourites such as Koen Mortier (Ex Drummer, 22nd of May), Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth (King of the Belgians), Patrice Toye (Rosie), Gust Van den Berghe (Little Baby Jesus of Flandr), Bas Devos (Violet), Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Black, Snowfall), Dorothée Van Den Berghe (My Queen Karo) and Erik Van Looy (Memory of a Killer).
 
Youth-oriented films are well represented in 2017. Last year’s Cloudboy won the Work in Progress Award, was picked up by LevelK and received its première at TIFF Kids. This year, CONNeXT presents four new projects: one pitch, Binti, and three works in progress: Ploey – You Never Fly Alone, Rosie & Moussa and ZOOks.
 
New this year will be a selection of TV series, with the presentation of line-ups of TV drama and the completed episodes of some series. The full list will be announced shortly.

CONNeXT — "Connect to what’s new and who’s next" — will run over three-and-a-half days of intensive networking, pitching, screenings and keynote talks (and of course hospitality) due to be held in Ghent from 8-11 October. Close to 75 top professionals have already confirmed their attendance, including sales agents, buyers and festival programmers from Europe and North America.
 

The titles
*indicates first feature
 
Pitches

• Angel by Koen Mortier (Ex Drummer, 22nd of May); Prod: Czar
• The Barefoot Emperor by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth (Khadak, Altiplano, The Fifth Season, King of the Belgians); Prod: Bo Films
• Binti* by Frederike Migom; Prod: Bulletproof Cupid
• The Chapel by Dominique Deruddere (Love Is a Dog From Hell, Everybody Famous!, The Wedding Party, Flying Home); Prod: Savage Film
• La Civil* by Teodora Ana Mihai (Doc: Waiting For August); Prod: One for the Road
• Cleo* by Eva Cools; Prod: Lunanime
• Floating* by Anke Blondé; Prod: A Private View
• Patrick* [De Patrick] by Tim Mielants (TV: Cordon, Peaky Blinders Series 3, The Tunnel); Prod: Savage Film
• Rain Anyway [Wees blij dat het regent] by Gust Van den Berghe (Little Baby Jesus of Flandr, Blue Bird, Lucifer) Prod: Minds Meet
• Tench [Muidhond] by Patrice Toye (Rosie, Nowhere Man, Little Black Spiders); Prod: Prime Time

Works in progress

• Ascension by Bas Devos (Violet); Prod: Minds Meet
• Coureur* by Kenneth Mercken; Prod: Czar
• Don't Shoot [Niet schieten] by Stijn Coninx (Daens, Sister Smile, Marina); Prod: Eyeworks
• Gangsta [Patser] by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Black/TV: Snowfall); Prod: a team productions
• Girl* by Lukas Dhont; Prod: Menuet
• Ploey – You Never Fly Alone by Árni Ásgeirsson and Ives Agemans (animation); Prod: Cyborn and Gunhill
• Rosie & Moussa by Dorothée Van Den Berghe (Girl, My Queen Karo); Prod: Caviar
• ZOOks* by Kristoff and Dimitri Leue (animation); Prod: Potemkino

Screenings

• Blue Silence* by Bülent Oztürk; Prod: Minds Meet
• Cargo* by Gilles Coulier (TV: The Natives); Prod: De Wereldvrede
• Charlie and Hannah's Grand Night Out* [Charlie en Hannah gaan uit] by Bert Scholiers; Prod: Minds Meet
• Cloudboy* by Meikeminne Clinckspoor; Prod: Bulletproof Cupid
• Control [Het tweede gelaat] by Jan Verheyen (Missing Persons Unit, Cut Loose, Mad About You, The K Files, The Verdict); Prod: Eyeworks
• Facades* by Kaat Beels and Nathalie Basteyns (TV: Clan/Beels: Hotel Swooni; Prod: De Mensen
• Many Heavens* [Vele hemels] by Jan Matthys (TV: The Emperor of Taste; In Flanders Fields; Shetland, Our Girl); Prod: Caviar
• The Prime Minister [De Premier] by Erik Van Looy (Shades; The Alzheimer Case/Memory of a Killer, Loft); Prod: FBO
• Racer and the Jailbird [Le Fidèle] by Michaël R. Roskam (Bullhead, The Drop); Prod: Savage Film
• Resurrection* by Kristof Hoornaert; Prod: Fobic FIlms
• Speechless [Sprakeloos] by Hilde Van Mieghem (Madly in Love, The Kiss); Prod: Caviar
• Zagros* by Sahim Omar Kalifa; Prod: A Private View

CONNeXT is an initiative of Flanders Image, the audiovisual export agency, a division of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF). Partners are Grid, LITES, Film Fest Gent, City of Ghent and Creative Europe Media Desk. Media partners: Le Film français and Screen International.