EXCLUSIVE: Leading Belgian distributor O’Brother is to open an outpost in the Netherlands headed by Katrien Remijn, who has worked at companies including Gusto Entertainment, The Searchers, Cinéart, and BFD, as the Dutch box office continues to outperform the Belgian box office.
Although Benelux rights are acquired together, the two territories are very different and not all films are released in both territories. When they are, distributors tend to collaborate as O’Brother has done with companies including EYE, Cinemien, Amstel Film, Contact Film, and Cherrypickers, creating a long-term relationship with Gusto in 2019.
O’Brother releases around 20-22 films a year but only a small number are released in the Netherlands. Now, with its own presence the number of Dutch releases is expected to rise.
The company arrives in Cannes with several titles in the official festival and in the market already on its slate. These include Julia Ducournau’s Alpha and Thierry Klifa’s The Richest Woman In The World.
“We had been considering opening a Dutch branch for some time, but we were waiting for the right opportunity to take the leap. When we learned Katrien was open to new challenges, we shared our ambition to launch something new,” explained Jacques-Henri Bronckart, owner and managing director of O Brother.
The last O’Brother Dutch release through Gusto will be Bernhard Wenger’s Austrian drama Peacock in July.
O’Brother is part of the Versus Group and is linked to leading Belgian production companies Verrsus, Frakas, Artemis and Tarantula as well as to tax shelter company, Inver.
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