Belgium

BELGIUM rich in talent

With elaborate Romanesque architecture, cobbled streets and seaports, Belgium is a distinctive filming location. Divided into three regions, the country possesses a range of backdrops from the coastal plains of the northwest to the southeastern Ardennes uplands.

With Tori and Lokita, The Eight Mountains and Close bringing local Belgian talent to the forefront at Cannes Film Festival 2022, the call for an increase of international production activity, and industry investments from regional funds, the Belgian screen sector is intricately structured to support filmmaking.

“The combination of attractive financing incentives, authentic locations, experienced multilingual crew and state-of-the art studio infrastructure makes Flanders a preferred partner on international co-productions,” commented Screen Flanders film commissioner Katrien de Hauwere.

The Belgian Tax Shelter can finance up to 42% of Belgian eligible audiovisual expenses. Both local productions as well as international co-productions meeting specific criteria can access the system.

Thanks to the Federal Tax Shelter and the regional funds, Wallimage, Screen Flanders, Screen Brussels and Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film Centre, international producers can find very attractive incentives to shoot or postproduce their films in Belgium.

Screen Flanders supported the Cannes 2022 Jury Prize winners The Eight Mountains. The Italian language film, directed by Belgian’s Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch follows the friendship between two men who spend their childhood together in a remote Alpine village and reconnect later as adults.

This success followed the organisation’s May 2021 announcement of its EUR1.975 million investment in 11 audio-visual projects, with a second call budget of EUR1.5 million announced in September. With a keen interest in the integrity of locally filmed Belgian productions, Screen Flanders has supported an array of filmed projects. These include animated project Ridder Muis 2 from director Ton Van Gestel as well as fiction series Alter Ego from directors Mathieu Mortelmans and Frederike Migom.

Head of international co-productions at Caviar Robin Kerremans served as a producer for Cannes 2022 recognised feature Rebel. Known for their internationally regarded co-produced projects such as Tabula Rasa and The Sound of Metal, as well as their extensive local production roster, Kerremans noted the use of the tax shelter and Screen Flanders film fund.

“SCREEN FLANDERS IS PROMISING A FORTUITOUS FUTURE WITH A EUR 1.5 MILLION SUPPLEMENT TO THE ALMOST EUR 2 MILLION CONTRIBUTION OF LAST YEAR.” LOCATION HIGHLIGHT Le Forum de Liège, with its art deco gem encrusted interiors, is home to many spectacular events in Wallonia. A historical focal point, the theatre was first opened in 1922, offering its stage to musical titans such as Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. As a theatrical hub for many Parisian performers, the architectural landmark has also featured in international productions. The theatre offered its backdrop to Leos Carax’s musical drama Annette (2021). Carax’s first English-speaking film, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, follows a comedian who falls in love with opera singer Ann, and their whirlwind love story and complex parenthood. Doused in glitz and glamour, Le Forum de Liège is a fitting home to much of the film’s drama, notably providing the splendour for the opera house style interiors.

Image: Annette © 2021 MUBI.