Noticias

Exclusive: Art becomes fiction as René Magritte, Salvador Dalí and their peers give the whodunnit genre a surreal makeover in This is Not A Murder Mystery. Deadline can share an exclusive new image from the series, which is produced by Belgium-based indie Panenka.

Hans Herbots, whose directing credits include The Serpent and Paris Has Fallen helmed all six eps. “We wanted to elevate the genre and give it a twist,” he tells Deadline. “This story, this universe, offered a lot of a lot of opportunity to do that.”

“This is not a pipe” is the wording below Magritte’s famous 1929 picture ‘The Treachery of Images’ and This is Not A Murder Mystery features the iconic Belgian artist and several of his surrealist peers.

In fact, the series absolutely is a murder mystery – as Series Mania attendees will see, with the drama in the Coming Next From Belgium section. It was commissioned by Vrt,...

The Has Fallen series, which was spun off of the Gerard Butler movies — Olympia Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen — will be getting a new season as confirmed by Canal+. The debut season, which was titled Paris Has Fallen, brings a lot of what made the movies successful to the show. Our own Alex Maidy says in his review, “Paris Has Fallen mines so much familiar territory covered in the feature films as well as countless other action shows on the small screen, but it does it with three charismatic leads who seem to be having a blast kicking ass through the City of Lights.”

According to Deadline, Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada confirmed the second season of the Has Fallen TV series in a statement made for Canal+’s preliminary full-year 2024 results. Saada said, “Studiocanal‘s first-ever global TV series Paris Has Fallen, based on the successful Has Fallen film franchise,...

Plot: When a terrorist group led by the villainous Jacob Pearce attacks a high-profile embassy reception, with the French Minister of Defence as their target, protection officer Vincent finds himself working with street-smart MI6 operative Zara to save the day. But when events take an increasingly dark turn, Vincent and Zara soon realize that the plan extends far beyond just one politician. With suspicions that one of their colleagues in the security services is feeding information to Pearce, Vincent and Zara soon come to rely on each other more than either would have ever imagined. Increasingly isolated and with Pearce always one step ahead, can this unlikely pair stop Paris from falling to a man hell-bent on vengeance?

Review: I’m not sure who asked for it, but the Gerard Butler Has Fallen film series has become the Has Fallen cinematic universe. After three movies, the same fictional world where...

“Paris Has Fallen” is a new live-action, eight-episode TV series, directed by Oded Ruskin and Hans Herbots, starring Tewfik Jallab, Ritu Arya, Sean Harris, Ana Ularu, Camille Rutherford, Jérémie Covillault, Emmanuelle Bercor and Karl Collins, streaming December 6, 2024 on Hulu:

“…when a terrorist group led by the villainous ‘Jacob Pearce’ attacks a high-profile embassy reception, with the ‘French Minister of Defence’ as their target, protection officer ‘Vincent’ finds himself working with street-smart ‘MI6’ operative ‘Zara’ to save the day.

‘But when events take an increasingly dark turn…

“…Vincent and Zara soon realize that the plan extends far beyond just one corrupt politician.

“With suspicions that one of their colleagues in the security services is feeding information to Pearce…

“…Vincent and Zara soon come to rely on each other…

“… more than either would have ever imagined…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

“Paris Has Fallen” is a new live-action, eight-episode TV series, directed by Oded Ruskin and Hans Herbots, starring Tewfik Jallab, Ritu Arya, Sean Harris, Ana Ularu, Camille Rutherford, Jérémie Covillault, Emmanuelle Bercor and Karl Collins, streaming December 6, 2024 on Hulu:

“…when a terrorist group led by the villainous ‘Jacob Pearce’ attacks a high-profile embassy reception, with the ‘French Minister of Defence’ as their target, protection officer ‘Vincent’ finds himself working with street-smart ‘MI6’ operative ‘Zara’ to save the day.

‘But when events take an increasingly dark turn…

“…Vincent and Zara soon realize that the plan extends far beyond just one corrupt politician.

“With suspicions that one of their colleagues in the security services is feeding information to Pearce…

“…Vincent and Zara soon come to rely on each other…

“… more than either would have ever imagined…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

After making three successful and action-packed films in the Has Fallen franchise, the political conspiracy thriller series is shaking things up by bringing the fight to the small screen. The latest installment of the Has Fallen franchise, Paris Has Fallen, is a TV series coming to Hulu, starring franchise newcomers Tewfik Jallab and Ritu Arya. Hulu debuted a Paris Has Fallen trailer on Tuesday, giving action fans something to look forward to before Thanksgiving madness finds the entertainment industry hitting the snooze button for a few days.

Here’s the official synopsis for Paris Has Fallen courtesy of Hulu:

“When a terrorist group led by the villainous Jacob Pearce (Sean Harris) attacks a high-profile embassy reception, with the French Minister of Defence as their target, protection officer Vincent (Tewfik Jallab) finds himself working with street-smart MI6 operative Zara (Ritu Arya) to save the day. But when events take an increasingly dark turn,...

One of, if not the best Gerard Butler action franchise, the Fallen saga, has expanded beyond Butler himself and onto the small screen in the StudioCanal series Paris Has Fallen, which is now available to stream in the U.K. and will soon land on Hulu in the U.S. Directed by Oded Ruskin and Hans Herbots, and starring Tewfik Jallab (Blood Coast), Ritu Arya (The Umbrella Academy), and Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible - Fallout), Paris Has Fallen has now received its first reactions and reviews and it sounds like the spin-off is a worthy follow-up to the action thriller series.

"Gerard Butler was the executive producer of Paris Has Fallen. No wonder it's so so good," declared X/Twitter user and action fan @Onahi_. @NiGhTVioLaToR adds, "Paris Has Fallen is a great series. #AmazonPrime," while @akinomoakiin says, "If you need an interesting TV series for the weekend go and see Paris Has Fallen.

A spinoff series to Gerard Butler's 2013 action thriller Olympus Has Fallen will expand the film franchise into television. Pairs Has Fallen will feature a brand new cast of characters but will begin a new chapter of the Has Fallen action franchise that began with Butler's now-classic film. Olympus Has Fallen also starred Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Cole Hauser, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, and Morgan Freeman. The film received mixed reviews from critics and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 50%.

There are currently four movies in the Has Fallen franchise: Olympus (2013), London (2016), Angel (2019), and the upcoming Night Has Fallen, which has not been given a release date at the time of writing. While Paris Has Fallen is a part of the larger franchise, it will be the first Has Fallen installment that will not star Gerard Butler. Butler still plans to star in two additional Has Fallen films after Night...

One of Gerard Butlers best action franchises, the Has Fallen saga, is getting a surprising small screen spinoff, and we now have a new look and more details about the project. Titled Paris Has Fallen, the series comes courtesy of the French platform Canal+, and will follow a new character as he, much like Butlers Mike Banning before him, finds himself up against a terrorist force while protecting a high-profile politician. Cue all manner of gunfire, explosions, and treachery.

Produced by Studiocanal production company Urban Myth Films (War of the Worlds), Studiocanal and Millennium and Butlers G-Base, a new poster has now been unveiled, which offers a new look at lead star Tewfik Jallab defending a Paris in turmoil. Check it out below:

Alongside Jallab, who replaced Babylon A.D. and Visions star Mathieu Kassovitz due to those dreaded creative differences, Paris Has Fallen also stars The Umbrella Academys Ritu Arya...

Exclusive: Mathieu Kassovitz has quit the Paris Has Fallen television series citing creative differences. He has been replaced by Spiral actor Tewfik Jallab.

Deadline can reveal the casting switch as StudioCanal has released first-look images from the series, which is based on Gerard Butler‘s Has Fallen film franchise and is shooting in London and Paris.

The eight-part drama is made by StudioCanal, War of the Worlds producer Urban Myth Films, and two companies behind the film franchise: Millennium Media and Butler’s G-Base. Eclectic Pictures is also attached.

Kassovitz, best known for his 1995 film La Haine, is recovering from a motorbike accident last month, though his departure from Paris Has Fallen was for creative reasons. In his place, Jallab will play Vincent Taleb, a protection officer to a French Minister, who is the target of a terror group led by villain Jacob.

Vincent works with MI6 operative Zara (Ritu Arya...

Hans Herbots, the original director, stood down because of scheduling conflicts.

Romanian filmmaker Teodora Mihai, whose La Civil screened in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2021, will direct the feature Heysel 85, about the Heysal Stadium disaster in which 39 people died at the European football final in 1985. She takes over from original director Hans Herbots who has dropped out because of scheduling conflicts.

The project is being produced by Belgian production outfit Menuetto Films; co-founder Hans Everaert pitched the project this week at Connext, the platform where new film and TV work from Flanders and Brussels is presented to the International industry.

Jenna Coleman is one of the most talented and charming actresses working in the film and TV industry. The English actress made her TV debut with the 2005 British soap opera Emmerdale, and her first feature film role was a very small one but it was in Captain America: First Avenger. She recently starred in the adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s DC comics The Sandman as Johanna Constantine and she is currently starring in the Prime Vide thriller series Wilderness. So, if you also love Coleman’s performances here are the 10 best movies and TV shows starring Jenna Coleman that should be on your watchlist.

10. Room at the Top (Not Available in the US) Credit – BBC

Synopsis: Room At The Top is a drama series based on John Braine’s classic book about Joe Lampton, a young man on the make in 1940’s Yorkshire.

9. Dancing on the Edge (Tubi & Prime Video...

"It's not them I'm worried about." Paramount+ in the UK has unveiled an official trailer for a horror thriller film titled No Escape, from director Hans Herbots and writer Kris Mrksa. Reinventing themselves on the other side of the world, 19-year-old Brits Kitty and Lana find refuge on a yacht in the Philippines called "The Blue" - full of beautiful people, parties and endless beaches. But in joining her crew, they fall into far greater dangers than the ones they were trying to escape. Sounds like a modern version on The Beach, involving a yacht and pirates this time. Adapted from a book by Lucy Clarke. "It's been the most incredible experience to see my novel re-imagined for screen. I’ve loved every moment of the journey from reading early scripts to visiting the set in Thailand. The series is breathtaking: transportive, gripping, and thrilling from beginning to end. I...

Exclusive: Paramount+’s international drama commissioning spree continues and Deadline can reveal New Pictures/Viacom International Studios (Vis) thriller The Blue, with filming set to commence in Thailand later this year.

The Blue comes fresh off the back of announcements for UK shows Flatshare, Kenneth Branagh’s A Gentleman in Moscow and the Sexy Beast remake, along with dramas from Germany and South Korea, as the Paramount streamer doubles down on international scripted shows and gears up for multiple European launches later this year.

Penned by White House Farm’s Kris Mrksa and directed by The Serpent’s Hans Herbots, The Blue stars Abigail Lawrie (Tin Star) and Rhianne Barreto (The Outlaws) as Lana and Kitty, two best friends on the run from the UK police. Together they find refuge on a romantic yacht called The Blue, crewed by a group of enigmatic, beautiful people who sail through South East...

Awards

Renowned singer Shirley Bassey is set to open this year’s BAFTA film awards with a James Bond tribute. Bassey has long been associated with 007, holding the record for an artist who has sung the most Bond theme songs with “Goldfinger” in 1964, “Diamonds Are Forever” in 1971 and “Moonraker” in 1979. The singer will perform “an iconic Bond theme” although which one will only be revealed on the night. This year’s BAFTA Awards will celebrate a number of iconic British film franchises, including Bond and Harry Potter. “Coda” lead Emilia Jones is also set to perform during the ceremony with a rendition of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell.

The BAFTA Awards will take place in London on March 13.

Animation

Independent production outfit Big Deal Films (“Little Badman”) is teaming with Hoek, Line & Thinker for Big Thinkers, a new initiative to find the next big animated hit authored by diverse U.

Belgium’s Panenka, producers of recent Vrt breakout hit “Two Summers” – which premiered last week to a jaw-dropping 51% market share in its prime-time slot and which will soon be released worldwide by Netflix – will virtually pitch one of their upcoming projects, “This is Not a Murder Mystery,” at Berlin Co-Pro Series.

One of 10 such projects set for this event, Co-Pro Series marks the first public pitch for “Tinamm,” with the creative team looking to the right co-production and distribution partner to help realize their murder mystery series. Panenka producer Kristoffel Mertens hosts the virtual Co-Pro pitch with co-creators Paul Baeten and Christophe Dirickx.

Baeten is a novelist, essayist and TV screenwriter, whose credits include two seasons of the acclaimed drama series “Over Water” and the aforementioned “Two Summers.” Dirickx has written and produced several feature films, including Cannes players “The Misfortunates” from director Felix van Groeningen and Frank Van Passel’s “Manneken Pis.

One of the highlights of the Berlinale Series Market is the pitch event Co-Pro Series, which looks to match projects with suitable co-producers and financiers.

Ten international series projects from Europe, Canada and Latin America have been selected to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Series, where they will also have the opportunity of meeting one-on-one with potential partners.

Taking place over two days (Feb. 15-16), and held online once again due to the pandemic, Co-Pro Series has a track record of showcasing drama projects that have not only gone on to be produced, but that have also achieved success.

International hit “Babylon Berlin,” Austrian-German crime series “Freud,” Norwegian-German domestic terrorism drama “Furia,” Icelandic thriller “Blackport” and 1920s-set German drama “Eldorado KaDeWe” have all participated in previous Co-Pro Series pitches. In total, 19 projects have been made since the event launched in 2015.

Co-Pro Series is curated and organized by the Berlinale Co-Production Market,...

The sixth annual showcase of Flanders films and TV series features 46 feature and 27 series.

Connext, the sixth annual showcase for new work from Flanders and Brussels, is taking place online for the second time from today, Monday October 4.

The virtual edition, Re>Connext, which has pitches, work-in-progress sessions and screenings, has attracted a robust selection of international sales agents, commissioning editors, distributors, financiers, sales agents, distributors, streamers and festival programmers.

The decision to go online was taken early, in March 2021. The upside of being virtual is that the event has a far greater reach and a bigger selection, with 46 features...

A total of 46 films and 27 series will be showcased at the online-only event.

Lukas Dhont’s second feature Close and Olga Lucovnicova’s Last Letters From My Grandma are among the 46 feature and 27 series projects to be showcased at Re>Connext, the annual showcase for films and TV series made in Flanders and Brussels, Belgium.

Close is filmmaker Dhont’s follow-up to Girl, which won the Camera d’Or following its premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2018. Last year, the project was pitched at Re>Connext under the title The Invisible.

For this edition, drama Close returns as a work in progress,...

Premiering on April 2, 2021, Netflix's 8-part limited series The Serpent has quickly become one of the most buzzed-about new true-crime serials on the platform. Directed by Hans Herbots and Tom Shankland, the British miniseries dramatically reenacts the reign of terror exacted by Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim), a mysterious serial killer that disguised himself well enough to remain at large in Asia during the mid-70s.

Related: 10 Best Movies Like Netflix's The Serpent

Due to the difficult subject matter, The Serpent joins a long line of intriguing yet challenging true-crime shows based on a real-life serial killer. Once all eight episodes are completed, here are the next best TV series to watch.

There’s always a tricky question of semantics when it comes to stories about criminals who deal in deception. The lines between the points where one persona ends and another begins make it difficult to focus on who the “real” figure at the center is.

That’s true for “The Serpent,” the eight-part limited series about the life and crimes of Charles Sobhraj, but only to an extent. Though Tahar Rahim plays all forms of the man who led an international crime ring, he exists for most of the series as “Alain Gautier.” What begins as an alias — the origins of which the audience sees in fits and starts as the series progresses — comes to encompass all of what allowed him to grow his intercontinental passport- and jewel-laundering scam, ensnaring a growing net of murder victims and accomplices and enemies along the way. In the process, the show surrounding him...

The case of Charles Sobhraj seems perfect for the age of the true-crime dramatization. Sobhraj, currently incarcerated in Nepal, was a serial murderer in the 1970s, preying especially upon Western travelers on the so-called Hippie Trail in Asia. His notoriety intersects with the anxieties of his era, and his deeds demonstrate an almost boundless capacity for cruelty and compartmentalization: Both of these facts would seem to serve a genre that seeks within stories from the past ways of understanding our times and ourselves.

“The Serpent,” a limited series appearing on Netflix after running on BBC One earlier this year, unfortunately never gets there. Through the writing of Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay, we are given an intriguing — if at times somewhat generic-feeling — look into the world of seekers and believers trying to find themselves between Kathmandu and Bangkok, and we see that world preyed on by an archvillain whose skillfulness...

Following the 2014 film The Treatment, the Belgian director is now adapting another book by the British writer of fiction noir Mo Hayder. Belgian director Hans Herbots has just kicked off filming on Rituel, which is another adaptation of a work (Ritual) by British author Mo Hayder. Hans Herbots made his name internationally by way of The Treatment, released in 2014, but he has also directed series such as Riviera, and The Serpent starring Tahar Rahim, which proved a hit with UK audiences on the BBC and will soon be available worldwide on Netflix. And whilst the novel Herbots is adapting is once again a work by English author Mo Hayder, the story unfolding in Rituel is resolutely Belgian. The film introduces us to Kiki, an underwater investigator for the criminal police. From the very outset of her career, she has had to contend with the sexist comments and attitudes...

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix revealed the premiere date and trailer for “The Serpent,” and Apple TV Plus announced the streaming premiere date for “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.”

Dates

Netflix announced that crime drama “The Serpent” will premiere on April 2. Inspired by real events set in the 1970s, the limited series tells the story of the merciless killer Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim) and his girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc (Jenna Coleman), who prey on tourists exploring the “hippie trail” in South Asia. When Sobhraj becomes the chief suspect in a series of murders of young Western travelers, it’s up to Herman Knippenberg (Billy Howle), a Dutch diplomat in Bangkok, to investigate the spree of crimes. The series also stars Ellie Bamber, Amesh Edireweer and Tim McInnerny. Directed by Tom Shankland and Hans Herbots, the series was written by Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay. Warlow, Shankland, Preethi Mavahalli,...

Tahar Rahim stars as “Asia’s most notorious killer” Charles Sobhraj in a new trailer for the upcoming Netflix series “The Serpent,” released on Thursday.

Inspired by real events, the eight-episode series tells the story of Sobhraj, a serial conman who posed as a gem dealer and travelled across Southeast Asian in the 1970s with his girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc (played in the series by Jenna Coleman), carrying out a spree of crimes on the so-called “Hippie Trail.” Together the duo became the chief suspects in a series of murders of young Western travelers.

The limited series also stars Billy Howle as Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg; Ellie Bamber as Herman’s wife Angela Knippenberg; Amesh Edireweera as Ajay Chowdhury; and Tim McInnerny as Paul Siemons.

A co-production between BBC One and Netflix, “The Serpent” is set to debut on Netflix on April 2.

Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay are writers on the series,...

New films from Vincent Bal, Koen Mortier and Caroline Strubbe among 47 films at virtual showcase.

A new drama from Cannes award-winner Lukas Dhont (Girl) and a film produced in lockdown by Milo Rau are among 47 projects to be showcased at Re>Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image.

The event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders, will run online from October 5-31 after the physical showcase was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Usually taking place over three days under the banner Connext, the virtual edition has been...

Netflix and BBC’s serial killer series “The Serpent” is one of the international shows whose filming was impacted by the pandemic, and required shifting production from Asia to Europe.

The drama, which stars Tahar Rahim (“A Prophet”) as the French conman and mass murderer Charles Sobhraj, was on its last stretch of shooting on location in Thailand in late March when the country went into lockdown. After a near five-month pause, the series had to relocate filming to the U.K. where production decamped in Hertfordshire, just north of London, on Aug. 17. The lensing, which took place for 10 days and will conclude Friday, consisted of remaining scenes that were initially scheduled to be shot in Thailand in March.

“It’s a testament to the hard work and sheer inventiveness of ‘The Serpent”s creative team, cast and crew that we’ve been able to safely wrap the series here in the U.

Annual film and TV showcase was due to take place in Antwerp in October.

CONNeXT, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image, has been postponed by a year due to the coronavirus crisis.

The event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders, will no longer take place this October – making it one of the longest lead cancelations in the film calendar to date as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Screen understands that some of the unused event budget may be allocated to the domestic release of films produced in...

Invitation-only film and TV industry showcase to leave Ghent after four years.

CONNeXT, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image, is leaving Ghent after four years and moving to Antwerp.

The event serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders, and has previously presented hit titles such as Lukas Dhont’s Girl, which won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018, and Tim Mielants’ Patrick, which picked up prizes at this year’s Karlovy Vary and Fantastic Fest.

But after four years in the Belgian city, CONNeXT is relocating 40 miles east to...

Jenna Coleman will switch from starring as the long-reining British sovereign in “Victoria” to play Marie-Andrée Leclerc, the partner and accomplice of French serial killer Charles Sobrhaj, in the BBC and Netflix drama “The Serpent.” Coleman will star alongside the previously announced Tahar Rahim, who plays Sobrhaj, as well as Ellie Bamber and Billy Howle, who have joined the series.

Sobhraj was the chief suspect in the unsolved murders of up to 20 young travelers across India, Thailand, and Nepal’s hippie trail in the mid-1970s. Having slipped repeatedly from the grasp of authorities worldwide, he became Interpol’s most wanted man.

Howle will play Herman Knippenberg, a junior diplomat at the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok who unwittingly walks into Sobhraj’s web of crime and ultimately seeks to bring him to justice. Bamber will appear as his wife, Angela.

The BBC will launch the series in the U.K.

Exclusive: Trainspotting and Once Upon A Time star Robert Carlyle and The Crown’s Victoria Hamilton are to star in a British political drama for Sky. Catherine The Great producer New Pictures is making six-part series Cobra about what happens in the corridors of power during a time of national emergency. Pretty good timing given what’s going on with Brexit.

Carlyle stars as British Prime Minister Robert Sutherland, while Hamilton plays his Chief of Staff Anna Marshall. Game of Thrones’ Richard Dormer plays as Fraser Walker, the Head of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Killing Eve’s David Haig stars as Home Secretary Archie Glover-Morgan, Better Things’ Marsha Thomason stars as Francine Bridge MP and Broadchurch’s Lucy Cohu plays the Prime Minister’s wife Rachel Sutherland.

The series, which has begun production ahead of a fall launch, deals with an unfolding national emergency that threatens to engulf the country as the Cobra committee,...

‘The Crown’ star Jodi Balfour also joins six-part serial killer drama.

Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones) and Jodi Balfour (The Crown) will lead the cast of upcoming BBC One thriller Rellik.

Created and written by Harry and Jack Williams, the six-episode series will reverse the story of a serial killer, starting at the point in time they are caught and going backwards.

Dormer will play Gabriel Markham, a Met detective that obsessives over finding the serial killer while Balfour plays his partner, Elaine.

Described as a “bold, original and twisting thriller” by New Pictures Executive Producer Willow Grylls, Rellik (“killer” in reverse) was commissioned in 2015 after the success of Williams brothers’ The Missing, also for BBC One.

The Williams’ production company Two Brothers and New Pictures are producing for BBC One and Cinemax. All3media International are handling international sales.

Joining Dormer and Balfour in the cast are Rosalind Eleazar, Paterson Joseph, [link...

The Treatment

Premièred in the UK by Frightfest, released in cinemas early this year and now out on DVD, The Treatment is a Belgian crime thriller with a very dark core, exploring the subject of child abuse. Its hero, Nick (Geert Van Rampelberg), had a brother who was abducted when they were kids, and now, as a police detective, he’s faced with a case that brings back troubling memories. If the story sounds familiar, that’s probably because it was a best selling novel before being adapted for the screen. This version is directed by Hans Herbots, best known in the UK for his work on hit TV series The Spiral, so we arranged to talk about how it came about.

A warm and friendly person whom you might not expect to be telling dark stories like this, Hans is also a father of three, a fact very much in evidence.

Stars: Geert Van Rampelberg, Ina Geerts, Johan van Assche, Laura Verlinden, Dominique Van Malder, Roel Swanenberg, Kyan Steverlynck, Ingrid De Vos, Michael Vergauwen, Circé Lethem, Brit Van Hoof, Tibo Vandenborre, Stan Puynen, Roy Aernouts, Jan Hammenecker | Written by Carl Joos | Directed by Hans Herbots

Detective Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is an adult man stuck in a childhood nightmare – the unresolved abduction of his older brother Bjorn when they were both under ten. The main suspect, and known paedophile, Ivan Plettinckx (Johan Van Assche) is interviewed by the police but there’s no evidence to convict him at the time. Haunted by memories of seeing him taken and consumed by guilt Cafmeyer has made Plettinckx his life’s work. The appearance of his nemesis in his back garden goading him with his presence coincides with a horrific new crime. A husband and wife are discovered tied to up, beaten,...

Directors Adil El Arbi and Billal Farrah are returning to the streets of Brussels for their newest feature.

Titled Black, the film now has a festival trailer. This is the second feature from the directorial duo, both of whom also worked on the screenplay alongside Nele Meirhaeghe and Hans Herbots, adapting it from Dirk Bracke’s Black/Black. Martha Canga Antonio and Aboubakr Bensaihi take on the lead roles, with a supporting cast that includes Emmanuel Tahon, Simon Frey, and Axel Massudi.

The film’s synopsis is as follows.

A 15-year-old girl in a black gang in Brussels must choose between loyalty and love when she falls for a Moroccan boy from a rival gang.

This film marks the fourth collaboration between El Arbi and Farrah, who have previously worked together on short films and tv shows as well as features. El Arbi and Farrah also take on editing duties for the film,...

Hans Herbots’ disquietingly gripping forensic thriller transplants Mo Hayden’s crime bestseller to Belgium

Along with Nordic noir and French noir, here is something of the Belgian variety. On TV, it would be a real candidate for boxset binge-watching, but maybe it’s too hardcore for consumption on that scale: a grippingly brutal and unwatchably macabre forensic thriller, directed by Hans Herbots (who also directed episodes of Spiral) and adapted from Mo Hayden’s 2001 crime bestseller – transplanted to Belgium from the original south London setting.

Continue reading...

Hans Herbots’ disquietingly gripping forensic thriller transplants Mo Hayden’s crime bestseller to Belgium

Along with Nordic noir and French noir, here is something of the Belgian variety. On TV, it would be a real candidate for boxset binge-watching, but maybe it’s too hardcore for consumption on that scale: a grippingly brutal and unwatchably macabre forensic thriller, directed by Hans Herbots (who also directed episodes of Spiral) and adapted from Mo Hayden’s 2001 crime bestseller – transplanted to Belgium from the original south London setting.

Continue reading...

It becomes apparent within a mere matter of moments that Hans Herbots’ The Treatment – an adaptation of the eponymous Mo Hayder novel – is an affectionately traditional thriller, abiding by the unspoken rules and tropes of the genre at hand. Though in many cases such conventionality would be detrimental, there’s also a security

The post The Treatment Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Stars: Geert Van Rampelberg, Ina Geerts, Johan van Assche, Laura Verlinden, Dominique Van Malder, Roel Swanenberg, Kyan Steverlynck, Ingrid De Vos, Michael Vergauwen, Circé Lethem, Brit Van Hoof, Tibo Vandenborre, Stan Puynen, Roy Aernouts, Jan Hammenecker | Written by Carl Joos | Directed by Hans Herbots

Detective Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is an adult man stuck in a childhood nightmare – the unresolved abduction of his older brother Bjorn when they were both under ten. The main suspect, and known paedophile, Ivan Plettinckx (Johan Van Assche) is interviewed by the police but there’s no evidence to convict him at the time. Haunted by memories of seeing him taken and consumed by guilt Cafmeyer has made Plettinckx his life’s work. The appearance of his nemesis in his back garden goading him with his presence coincides with a horrific new crime. A husband and wife are discovered tied to up, beaten,...

Earlier this week, we gave you details on first wave of special experiences and events taking place at the 2015 Stanley Film Festival. We now have details on their impressive slate of features, short films, and additional special events, including screenings of The Final Girls, Deathgasm, Stung, The Invitation, and We Are Still Here.

We're teaming up with the festival for live coverage and special opportunities for Daily Dead readers, so be sure to check back all month for contests, features, and more.

"April 2, 2014 (Denver, Co) - The Stanley Film Festival (Sff) produced by the Denver Film Society (Dfs) and presented by Chiller, announced today its Closing Night film, Festival lineup and the 2015 Master of Horror. The Festival will close out with The Final Girls. The film, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, is the story of a young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s,...

Kicking off with a special screening on Thursday 26th February and hosting eleven films on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th February, the UK’s favourite horror fantasy festival celebrates ten ‘gore-ious’ years at its second home at the Glasgow Film Festival with an all-exclusive slate of the freshest new horror films around – including three World, two European and six UK premieres!

The shocktacular line-up starts on Thurs 26 Feb in sumptuous Hammer-style with the UK premiere of the Edgar Allan Poe based Eliza Graves featuring an all-star Hollywood cast, including Kate Beckinsale, Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess and Michael Caine.

Friday’s fearsome line-up kicks off with the European premiere of The Atticus Institute, the paranormal activity shockumentary of the year, written and directed by Chris Sparling, who wrote ‘Buried’. This is followed by the World Premiere of The Hoarder, starring an on-form Mischa Barton who uncovers the worst horrors in the...

Every so often a movie comes along that’s unspeakably paralyzing and gutwrenching, causing post-credit asphyxiation after your heart jumps straight into your throat. The Treatment is exactly that kind of harrowing, haunting filmmaking that elevates typical crime-drama-storytelling into realms we’d probably be better off never exploring, yet filmmaker Hans Herbots ensures you’ll be glued to your seat whether you like it or not. Based on a novel written by Mo Hayder, U.S. audiences will quickly notice parallels between Herbots’ adaptation and Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, but The Treatment is a shocking mystery that deserves no comparison. Kudos to Herbots and company for echoing a bleak, relentless and viciously gritty drama that never shies away from making a film too emotionally jarring, plunging into darkness while never coming up for air – heroic foreign filmmaking in a time when most American movies won’t be greenlit without a fluffy,...

We are three weeks away until Fantastic Fest. Kind of amazing to think about. This year, I am blessed to bring Mike Hassler with me. We will be seeing as many films as our eyeballs will see and writing as many reviews as our fingers will allow us. Take a look at the second wave announcement below and don’t forget to look at the first wave and my predictions of what might play at the fest (I didn’t fare well with the Second Wave). As before, I have included the trailers for all the films, if available, announced in this wave.

From the Press Release

Austin, TX – Wednesday, August 27, 2014 – Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the second wave of events, special guests and film programming. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18-25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.

Fantastic Fest 2014 kicks off September 18, and the second wave of films has been announced. Purgatory, Redeemer, Whispers Behind the Wall, Necrophobia 3D, Over Your Dead Body, and more are on the menu!

From the Press Release:

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the second wave of events, special guests, and film programming. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18-25th in Austin, Texas, at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.

Get ready to be blown away by Lionsgate's latest action-packed thriller, John Wick starring Keanu Reeves, with a red carpet gala screening with Reeves and directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski in attendance. John Wick is the story of a former ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a fresh and stylized take on the "assassin genre.

Be sure to check out MovieBS.com for reviews and commentary from the best film festival known to man. Here is the news release of the second wave of films and events.

Austin, TX – Wednesday, August 27, 2014 – Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the second wave of events, special guests and film programming. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18-25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.

Get ready to be blown away by Lionsgate’s latest action-packed thriller, John Wick starring Keanu Reeves, with a red carpet gala screening with Reeves and directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski in attendance. John Wick is the story of a former ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a fresh and stylized take on the “assassin genre.

The lineup for the second wave of films at 2014′s 10th Annual Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas has arrived, and with it a potential Oscar contender, Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler. The film, a pulpy crime film about an embedded journalist (Jake Gyllenhaal), will make its U.S. premiere at the festival with Director and Writer Gilroy in attendance.

Fantastic Fest has also released a lineup that includes John Wick, an action/thriller starring Keanu Reeves (Reeves will be in attendance), Takashi Miike’s latest Over Your Dead Body and the Studio Ghibli film The Tale of Princess Kaguya. This announcement comes on the heels of the first wave of films, including Sundance horror film The Babadook.

Fantastic Fest takes place September 18-25 in Austin. View the first lineup of films here. And view the full lineup of films and descriptions from this second wave below via a press release.

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The Absent One

Denmark,...

Open Road’s Jake Gyllenhaal starrer Nightcrawler will close the 10th annual Fantastic Fest in its U.S. premiere and Keanu Reeves will drop by for a gala screening of Lionsgate’s John Wick, organizers announced today. The rising genre film fest held September 18-25 in Austin, TX will open with the previously announced Tusk from Kevin Smith.

Also unveiled today along with a second wave of programming is a centerpiece bout in the Fantastic Debates, in which filmmakers, critics, and celebs engage in discourse at a podium before taking it to the boxing ring to determine the ultimate winner. This year, BitTorrent’s Chief Content Officer Matt Mason will take on a challenger to duke it out over whether the file sharing platform is a valuable tool or an enabler of piracy.

Related: Kevin Smith’s Horror-Comedy ‘Tusk’ To Open Fantastic Fest 2014

This year’s festival marks the grand...

Our International Sales Agent (Isa) of the Day coverage is back again for this year's Cannes Film Festival. We will feature successful, upcoming, innovative and trailblazing agents from around the world, and cover the latest trends in sales and distribution. Beyond the numbers and deals, this segment will also share inspirational and unique stories of how these individuals have evolved and paved their way in the industry, and what they envision for the new waves in global cinema.  

Pamela Leu recently started Be For Films, which is making its debut at Cannes this year. This is exciting news because it's the first and only company dedicated to film sales in Belgium, and there are a number of very talented directors there who need the assistance to share their films with the world. Be For Films features high quality art house films that include documentaries and features. Pamela explains more about her company and what she is selling at the Cannes Film Festival.

How did Be For Films start?

I have a master's degree in communication, and I started working in film sales after school. I was previously working Films Distribution for eleven years, a sales company based in France. I started with festivals, and then I went into TV sales for the whole catalog; I worked with rights for all of it. Running my company was the next step in my career, and I started Be For Films on my own.

This is the first film sales company in Belgium. Maybe some producers tried to do sales, but for a Belgium company that's only focused on sales, this is the first one. The closest sales companies are in France and then there is Fortissimo in the Netherlands.

Wbi and Flanders Image were very happy and supportive when they learned about my wish to run this company in Brussels. They are now proposing Belgium films and documentaries that really need sales agents.

There are many young directors coming from the French and Flemish parts of Belgium. They're making nice thrillers, and also many great TV series for TV. This is another good reason for me to be there.  

Why are you in film sales?

This business is my passion. I love to travel and share this passion with buyers. I like attending festivals to see how audiences respond to these films. It's really amazing how people can react. For example, with Femen, it was interesting to see how the audience. They were moved and impressed by this important story. This is really important for me to see.

 

Please share more about your lineup for Cannes.

Femen is a Swiss documentary that got an award at the Nyon Film Festival. It's about a movement that started six years ago with a few girls in a town in the Ukraine. They decided to go against what's happening to women: staying in the kitchen, and not being able to do what they want. They also stood up against what's happening to animals and nature. These women had to leave their country, and most of them are now staying in France, Switzerland and Germany. They're still fighting, and spreading this movement in Europe. They have goals to go worldwide as well.

The Treatment is a Flemish film. It's a psychological thriller by Hans Herbots, and I was very happy to get the international rights for this so I could bring it to Cannes. I think this film will have a great life, in terms of sales and and festivals. It's adapted from the book The Treatment written by Mo Hayder. The Enlish Times said it's one of the ten darkest films ever written in the UK. Hayder's books are bestsellers and have been sold worldwide.

We also have a contemporary film called The Easy Way Out by Brice Cauvin. It's a French production, and some of it was shot in Belgium. This is full of legendary actors including Agnes Jaoui, Laurent Lafitte, Benjamin Biolay and Marie-Christine Barrault.

Cannes Film Festival Lineup: 

The Treatment

The Easy Way Out

I Am Femen

Recycling Lily

 

More About Be For Films:

Be for Films is an independent sales company based in Brussels and Paris. We aim to bring on the international market place up to 6 - 8 new feature films / documentaries per year and establish strong and long-lasting business relationships with producers and talents. The company will be officially launched during Cannes Film Festival 2014.

French sales agent heads to Belgium to set up new company. First slate includes Belgian Hans Herbots’ crime thriller The Treatment.

Long-time Films Distribution sales agent Pamela Leu has launched her own Brussels-based sales company, Be for Films.

Leu left Nicolas Brigaud-Robert and François Yon’s Paris-based Films Distribution on amicable terms last month.

The company will provide some initial back office support while Leu rolls out her first independent slate at Cannes.

“After 11 years of collaboration with Films Distribution, running a company and creating Be for Films was the obvious step to achieve my own dreams and desires for doing business in the film industry,” Leu told ScreenDaily.

Be for Films is the only fully-fledged sales company based within Belgian borders, although state-backed organisations like Wallonie Bruxelles Image and Flanders Image do a lot of promotional work for local productions.

“My first goal is to support local French and Flemish-speaking productions and bring news talent to the...

Former Oscar winner Mike van Diem’s The Surprise and BBC backed series The White Queen [pictured] are among the recipients in the first funding round from the new Screen Flanders economic fund.

A total amount of €4,995,000 ($6,678,685) is to be distributed in the fund’s inaugural call.

The next call for projects closes on 28 June. The final call for 2013 opens from Sept 1 and closes on Oct 25. Another €5 million will be divided among applicants in both remaining calls.

Sitting alongside the Belgian Tax Shelter, the new fund is bound to boost the region’s appeal for coproduction and inward investment yet further. The aim of the selective system is to support (co-) productions that are made, in part or entirely, in the Flanders region. One of the conditions is that the project spends a minimum of €250,000 ($334,205) in the region. The 20 supported titles together stand for well over €20 million ($26,7m)of audiovisual expenses in the Flanders region.

The Screen...