Ghent-based producer Michiel Dhont is back at Flanders Film Days (FFD) this week to scout international partners for projects on the slate of The Reunion, the company he runs with director brother Lukas, a year after launching Cannes title and Belgian Oscar entry Coward at the inaugural event in 2025.
”Even though we were already financed and had a sales agent, a lot of international people in different departments, sales, distribution, producing, were in the room,” says Dhont, showing a clip from Coward, then still shooting, at FFD in 2025. “What I did very much enjoy was the word of mouth and buzz created around the film.”
Presenting Coward at FFD drew attention toward other projects on The Reunion’s slate, including Cato Kusters’ romantic drama Julian, also sold by The Match Factory, which went on to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.
“For Julian, it created a very interesting opportunity to present it to a lot of festivals at once,” says Dhont. “It is much more difficult to present the film to each festival individually.”
This year’s FFD is taking place from October 6-7 in the Kinepolis Cinema in Ghent, during Fest Gent, one of its main partners. Programmers from Berlinale, San Sebastián, Locarno, Cannes, Toronto, Tallinn, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Vision Du Reel and Hot Docs.
Producers agree the showcase event is an invaluable opportunity to position films for the global market.
Hans Everaert of Menuetto Film presented Teodora Ana Mihai’s drama Heysel 85 last year. It went on to debut at the Berlinale, sell around the world for Salaud Morisset, and is now sold out at the BFI London Film Festival next week.
“It’s a good formula, tried and tested,” says Everaert of FFD. “It is a real advantage to be able to highlight your project at an early stage. For us, the selection of Heysel in Berlin originated from there.”
Menuetto has several new projects this year, including Mihai’s latest feature Deux Vies, an intense family drama scripted by and starring Natali Broods, young adult drama Lyfe from directors Jaan Stevens and Tijmen Govaerts, and musical drama Strokes Of Madness, a work in progress from directors Lander Haverals and Dominique Van Malder.
The company is also presenting Eva Küpper’s feature documentary, Icara, about forgotten 1930s racing driver, dancer and actress and trailblazing feminist Hellé Nice, once known as the fastest woman in the world but falsely accused of collaborating with the Nazis.
Charlotte Rampling leads the voice cast, which will include live action and animation. The Bugatti family is also understood to be supporting the project.
Big projects being pitched include Vivi Film’s €8m animated feature Dreamwalker, a coproduction with Ireland’s Lighthouse Studios and France’s Parmi Les Lucioles films, and Finn Troch’s €6m1890s-set drama, XX
Among the sales agents in town are representatives from Films Boutique, Cercamon, Salaud Morriset, Paradise City Sales and TrustNordisk.
Success
The real measure of the success of a showcase event FFD is the journey the films go on. As Karla Puttemans, CEO of organiser Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), notes, “quite a number” of the films presented last year have found significant financing and distribution. Several have also surfaced at major international events.
In addition to Coward at Cannes and Heysel 85 at the Berlinale, Anke Blonde’s Dust also went on to premiere in competition at Berlin, while Kristof Bilsen’s The Apologist made its world premiere in Sheffield DocFest, and Pieter-Jan De Pue’s Mariinka was an audience award winner at CPH:DOX.
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