News

Rough Diamonds is a new Belgian series for Netflix created by Rotem Shamir and Yuval Yefet starring Casper Knopf and Kevin Janssens.

Netflix takes us this time to Antwerp, in a diamonds and crime thriller that, although it may not seem so from the premise, has little or nothing to do with Guy Ritchie.

A classic crime investigation series with a very tv style rendering in its development (despite its hopeful beginning).

About the Series

Classic, entertaining, with a very TVish development, one of those series that meets the standards almost perfectly and that entertains, but with little much to offer than a more or less coherent development. It does have the grace (enough or not) of delving into the Jewish community settled in Belgium.

The character development is good. It does not pretend to make an intense series on a psychological level, it limits itself to allowing the characters...

Belgian banner De Mensen and Keshet International (Ki) have kicked off the shoot of “Diamonds, ” a family crime thriller series penned by Yuval Yefet and Rotem Shamir, the pair behind “Fauda” and “Line in the Sand.”

Ordered by Netflix and Belgian public broadcaster Eén, the series follows a Jewish Ultra-Orthodox family in Belgium’s Antwerp Diamond Square Mile.

The eight-part series stars Belgian actor Kevin Janssens as Noah Wolfson, who returns to Antwerp where he reconnects with his family and the ultra-orthodox Jewish way of life which he had rebelled against. Noah discovers that his brother has ruined the once powerful family business by trading diamonds with sketchy people. Despite tense relations with his parents, brother and sister, Noah attempts to save the business but gets embroiled in a criminal world.

Janssens stars opposite Dudu Fisher, Yona Elian, Mendy Cahan, Ini Massez, Robbie Cleiren, Jeroen Vander Ven, Marie Vinck and Els Dottermans,...

TV sales arm to mark first anniversary at Cannes content market.

Wild Bunch TV will launch a trio of new series at the upcoming edition of Mipcom Oct 17-20, its second time at the content market since launching last year.

It will kick off sales on Belgian-produced, bittersweet romance and road trip Tytgat Chocolate about a mentally-challenged, chocolate factory worker who sets off in search of his girlfriend after she is deported back to Kosovo.

The Flemish-language series is written and directed by Marc Bryssinck and Filip Lenaerts. Brussels-based deMENSEN – which previously made Beau Sejour and Highway of Love – produced the series for Vrt.

The quirky drama stars Jelle Palmaerts alongside other members of Belgium’s Theater Stap, a company of mentally-challenged professional actors.

Flemish stars Els Dottermans and Jan Decleir also feature in the cast.

Israeli dramas

Wild Bunch TV has also picked up sales on Israeli director-writer Keren Weissman’s psychological drama Mama’s Angel...

Toronto International Film Festival continues to add to its already eclectic slate by announcing their Platform line-up today. Beginning last year as a special program to highlight auteur-driven features from around the world, this year’s line-up looks remarkably strong, opening with Bertrand Bonello‘s Paris-set terrorism drama Nocturama.

Also featuring new films from Fien Troch, Zacharias Kunuk, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Ivan Sen, Katell Quillévéré, Khyentse Norbu, Pablo Larraín, William Oldroyd, Mijke de Jong, Barry Jenkins, Mathieu Denis, and Simon Lavoie, check out the line-up below.

Daguerrotype (Le Secret de la chambre noire) Kiyoshi Kurosawa, France/Japan/Belgium

World Premiere

Kiyoshi Kurosawa makes his first film outside Japan with this French-language ghost romance fantasy, about an aging photographer whose obsession with an archaic technique draws his young assistant and beautiful daughter into a dark and mysterious world. Starring Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, Olivier Gourmet, and Mathieu Amalric. ***

Goldstone Ivan Sen, Australia...

Marleen Gorris' sightly absurdist, slightly magic realist movie about a strong woman who takes charge in a rural Dutch community is a fable about a kind of matriarchal utopia -- where decisions are made with patience and understanding, the weak are protected and women aren't abused. It's an Oscar winner for Best Foreign film -- the first directed by a woman, Antonia's Line Blu-ray Film Movement 1995 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 103 min. / Antonia / Street Date April 19, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Willeke van Ammelrooy, Els Dottermans, Dora van der Groen, Veerle van Overloop, Esther Vriesendorp, Carolien Spoor, Thyrza Ravesteijn, Mil Seghers, Jan Decleir, Elsie de Brauw, Reinout Bussemaker, Marina de Graaf, Jan Steen, Catherine ten Bruggencate, Paul Kooij, Fran Waller Zeper, Leo Hogenboom, Flip Filz, Wimie Wilhelm. Cinematography Willy Stassen Film Editors Wim Louwrier, Michiel Reichwein Original Music Ilona Sekacz Produced by Gerard Cornelisse, Hans de Weers, Hans de Wolf Written and Directed by Marleen Gorris...

Actress Charlize Theron has signed on for Summit Entertainment's remake of Zwart Water for director Scott Derrickson.

The original Zwart Water, a Dutch thriller released last year, centers on a nine-year-old girl who discovers her new friend is actually her mother's dead twin. Charlize Theron will portray the mother in the remake, who is said to be slightly unhinged.

Scott Derrickson will direct the Zwart Water remake from a script by Paul Harris Boardman, who wrote Scott Derrickson's The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Charlize Theron will produce alongside Beth Kono. No production schedule was given for the remake.

Zwart Water was released March 10th, 2010 and stars Hadewych Minis, Barry Atsma, Isabelle Stokkel, Charlotte Arnoldy, Steven Boen, Warre Borgmans, Philippe Colpaert, Els Dottermans. The film is directed by Elbert van Strien.

BERLIN -- The Dardenne brothers' minimalist drama Le Fils (The Son) swept Belgium's top film honors Thursday night, winning three prizes, including the nod for best film. Writers-helmers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne also took home the best director prize at the 18th annual Joseph Plateau Awards. Olivier Gourmet was named best actor for his lead performance in The Son, which centers on a carpenter and his enigmatic relationship with a young student. Gourmet adds his Joseph Plateau prize to the best actor award he won at the Festival de Cannes last year for the same role. The best actress award was a split decision, with both Antje De Boeck and Els Dottermans taking home the Plateau statuette -- De Boeck for her role in Hop and Dottermans for Girl.