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Koen Van Bockstal is to step down as CEO of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf), citing health reasons that will “make it impossible for him to continue to fully exercise his function” as head of the organisation.

His departure was confirmed on Friday afternoon.

“Koen has made a valuable contribution to the Vaf’s mission and to strengthening the audiovisual and games sector in Flanders. The Vaf wishes to sincerely thank Koen for his commitment and enthusiasm, and wishes him all the best for the future,” the Vaf board commented of his exit.

Van Bockstal was appointed CEO of the...

Connext, the annual showcase of upcoming film and TV projects and rising talent from Flanders, will not take place in 2024, Flanders Image has confirmed.

It is understood the plan is for Connext to return in 2025, possibly with a new name, widened scope and different location. The event has previously taken place in Ghent and Antwerp but could head to Ostend or Brussels. There will also likely be an online component.

Connext was the platform for local film and TV producers to pitch projects, present works in progress and show completed films to international sales agents, distributors, festival directors and financiers.

Former Youplanet Pictures and Rakuten TV executives Adrian Peña and Alex Marin have launched Spanish independent film distribution company Madfer Films.

Based in Barcelona, Madfer Films’ first acquisitions for the Spanish market include Babak Jalali’s comedy-drama Fremont, Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s box office hit Full River Red and Kristian Mercado’s sci-fi romantic comedy If You Were The Last.

Peña and Marin both worked together at Spanish distributor Youplanet Pictures, which has released films including Academy Award winners Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Whale and Palme d’Or winner Titane. Before Youplanet, the pair also worked at video-on-demand platform Rakuten TV.

European film executives Christian De Schutter and Barbara Van Lombeek have teamed up to launch The FYC Academy, an agency for global awards strategies.

FYC – which stands for For Your Campaign – will launch officially in Cannes next month. The company’s focus is to set up international campaigns and develop strategies aimed at achieving optimum visibility for films during awards season.

It will include, but is not limited to Academy Awards campaigns, and will work initially on around five titles per year, from any international territory.

The FYC Academy will operate separately from Van Lombeek’s The PR Factory and...

Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) has appointed Jasper Nijsmans as head of its promotion department Flanders Image, responsible for promoting Flemish talent and content abroad.

Nijsmans joined the international promotion department at Vaf in 2017 as communications and press officer for Flanders Image.

More recently, he has been a project manager, responsible for the international promotion of documentaries, short films and immersive productions. He was also involved in the organisation of Connext, the annual film and series showcase event.

Vaf received 26 applications for the head of promotion vacancy, which was opened in January. It followed the departure of Christian de Schutter, former managing director of Flanders Image,...

Luke Brawley, former festivals manager at UK doc specialist Dogwoof, is launching Indox, to provide festival strategy consultancy to non-fiction filmmakers.

Brawley is launching the company with Cph:dox official selection title The Stimming Pool, directed by The Neurocultures Collective and Steven Eastwood, which is making its world premiere in the Special Premieres section. Brawley is attending the festival on the look out for further acquisitions.

UK-based Indox will work from initial festival strategies to full festival management, providing representation for films on the festival circuit and exposure to potential distribution partners.

The company is also representing Robie Flores’ The In Between,...

Former Flanders Image manager Christian De Schutter has joined Tine Klint’s Denmark-based Scandinavian sales and aggregation company LevelK as festival consultant.

De Schutter left Flanders Image suddenly in December last year, announced via a short email from Flanders Audiovisual Fund CEO Koen Van Bockstal. Over 150 leading international industry figures then signed an open letter in support of De Schutter.

De Schutter had worked at Flanders Image since 2003, with responsibility for promoting Flemish films and TV dramas internationally. The organisation boosted the careers of filmmakers including Lukas Dhont, Fien Troch and Felix Van Groeningen, and scored Oscar nominations for films including Bullhead,...

More than 200 key European film professionals have published an open letter expressing their shock and concern over the unexplained, sudden firing of long-time Flanders Image boss Christian De Schutter.

Producer Mike Goodridge at Good Chaos, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) co-founder and head of industry Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, German Films MD Simone Baumann, Tribeca Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer, Haut et Court Head Of Acquisitions Laure Calliol; Goodfellas Head Of Sales Eva Diederix and Oscar-nominated director Stijn Coninx are among the signatories.

“We the undersigned are professionals in the film industry who are concerned about the termination of employment of our well respected and long-time colleague, Christian De Schutter, from Flanders Image,” they wrote.

They said they had been shocked by both the termination and the manner in which it had been handled by Koen Van Bockstal, CEO of parent body Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf).

“We all learned of De Schutter...

They claim the Flemish cultural sector will now suffer without De Schutter’s expertise and international contacts.

Over 150 leading figures from the European and international industry have signed an open letter in support of Christian De Schutter, former managing director of Flanders Image, whose sudden removal from his role was announced in a short email sent by Koen Van Bockstal, CEO of Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf), on December 20.

“We’re all flummoxed by the situation and as his longtime colleagues we think we deserve some sort of explanation. We know that many people in Belgium, including your leading filmmakers, are also confused and angered,...

The 37 national film institutes that are members of European Film Promotion have elected a new Efp board of directors at the general assembly on May 23 during the Cannes Film Festival. The board consists of seven members, with their term of office lasting for two years.

Five of the current members remain on the board, including Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films, as new vice president, Daniela Elstner, executive director UniFrance, Eda Koppel, head of marketing at Estonian Film Institute, Stine Oppegaard, manager, international relations, feature films, Norwegian Film Institute, and Markéta Santrochová, head of Czech Film Center, who has been re-elected as Efp president.

Newly elected to the board are Christian De Schutter, managing director of Flanders Image, and Rastislav Steranka, director of the National Cinematographic Centre of the Slovak Film Institute.

“As member of such a great European network, I am delighted to serve another term on the...

New board members include execs from Flanders Image and the Slovak Film Institute.

European Film Promotion has elected a new board of directors, adding two new members: Christian De Schutter, managing director of Flanders Image and Rastislav Steranka, director of the National Cinematographic Centre of the Slovak Film Institute.

The 37 national film institutes of European Film Promotion (Efp) elected them to the board at a General Assembly held during Cannes.

The board consists of seven members, with their term of office lasting for two years.

Five of the current members were re-elected to the board including: Simone Baumann, managing director German Films,...

First event will be staged in London next spring with Flemish initiative Connext.

The British Film Institute (BFI) is launching a quarterly initiative to bring UK producers and industry representatives together with potential international partners.

Talent from a particular country or region will be invited to screen films in the UK and participate in meetings, case studies and seminars about funding and coproduction opportunities. There will also be some public screenings.

The first event will be with Flanders and Belgian showcase Connext, and will take place in spring 2023 in London.

“It’s about developing a greater understanding of how to...

Connext is a crucial promotional event for Flanders filmmakers and projects.

Connext, the annual industry showcase for new films and TV dramas made in Flanders and Brussels, will present new projects from some of the region’s leading filmmakers including Kevin Janssens, Veerle Baetens, and Fien Troch.

The 2022 hybrid edition will run onsite in Antwerp from October 9-11 and online from October 10-24.

The 82 titles being presented range from project pitches to works in progress through completed films and series.

Many familiar names from Flemish film and TV are participating. Janssens will be pitching his new TV series Breendonk, a...

Significant changes are “necessary” say some; the festival is “losing its expertise” say others.

A debate has broken out in the Dutch press and the European industry over the dramatic restructuring of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) announced last month.

It has now emerged the festival is dispensing with almost its entire team of senior programmers whose positions are being made redundant. Some of these programmers, talking to Screen on the condition of anonymity, are accusing the festival management, led by managing director Marjan van der Haar and festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, of treating them unfairly and delivering the news out of the blue.

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...

Six years on, the legacy of Connext can be seen at festival awards ceremonies and in international theatrical and TV deals.

Cannes prizes, international festival plaudits and a social media thumbs up from Ricky Gervais are among the profile -raising moments enjoyed by projects that have participated in Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image in Belgium.

The event serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders and Brussels and has been mounted virtually under the banner Re>Connext for the last two years amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite being forced online and virtual,...

Six years on, the legacy of Connext can be seen at festival awards ceremonies and in international theatrical and TV deals.

Cannes prizes, international festival plaudits and a social media thumbs up from Ricky Gervais are among the profile -raising moments enjoyed by projects that have participated in Connext, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image in Belgium.

The event serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders and Brussels and has been mounted virtually under the banner Re>Connext for the last two years amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite being forced online and virtual,...

Annual film and TV showcase was due to take place in Antwerp in October but was cancelled due to the virus crisis.

CONNeXT, the annual film and TV showcase run by Flanders Image, will be reimagined as a virtual event after the physical edition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event, which serves as an export platform for film and TV drama made in Flanders, has been titled Re>CONNeXT and will launch on October 4 – the date when the event was originally set to begin in Antwerp, Belgium.

The virtual edition will see creatives pitch new projects, present works-in-progress and show recently-completed features,...

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...

Horn has died aged 66.

Tributes have been paid to award-winning New York-born, Berlin-based filmmaker and journalist Andrew Horn, who died from complications relating to chemotherapy treatment for cancer last month aged 66.

Horn won the 2004 Teddy Award at the Berlinale for The Nomi Song, his feature documentary about avant garde New Wave singer and performance artist, Klaus Nomi. He was also the writer and producer of Dana Ranga’s East Side Story, a 1997 documentary about musicals made in the Soviet bloc.

More recently, Horn premiered his Twisted Sister documentary, We Are Twisted Fucking Sister (2014) at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa). The...

Some European Film Market exhibitors are reporting fewer bookings for scheduled meetings.

Certain European Film Market (Efm) exhibitors are reporting fewer bookings for scheduled meetings as new rules governing admissions to the main hubs of the Gropius Bau (Gb) and the Marriott Hotel come into force. Some regular attendees say they are even reconsidering whether it is still cost effective to attend the market.

Under a new policy announced in December, access to the Gb is restricted to market badge holders only for the first weekend due to concerns about overcrowding. Many Efm exhibitors said at the time that they...

Coureur won the events best project pitch, while Cloduboy triumphed in the Works In Progress strand.

Organisers of the inaugural NeXT event in Ghent, hosted by Flanders Image, intend to re-stage the event in 2017 following positive feedback from industry at this year’s programme.

NeXT welcomed international industry guests – including festival programmers, distributors and sales executives – to meet with Belgian producers and distributors, view finished Flemish films, and listen to pitches of projects in development or presentations of works in progress.

There were eight projects in development pitched, with an international jury selecting Coureur as best pitch. In the Works In Progress, the jury picked Cloudboy as the winner of the 13 films in post-production.

Finished films screening included Fien Troch’s Home, Peter Monsaert’s Le Ciel Flamand, Bavo Defurne’s Souvenir, Christophe Van Rompaey’s Vincent And The End of the World, and Nic Balthazar’s Everybody Happy.

Peter Bouckaert [pictured] of leading Belgian producer Eyeworks pitched...

Coureur won the events best project pitch, while Cloduboy triumphed in the Works In Progress strand.

The inaugural NeXT event in Ghent, hosted by Flanders Image, has revealed its best pitch and works in progress winners.

NeXT welcomed international industry guests – including festival programmers, distributors and sales executives – to meet with Belgian producers and distributors, view finished Flemish films, and listen to pitches of projects in development or presentations of works in progress.

There were eight projects in development pitched, with an international jury selecting Coureur as best pitch. In the Works In Progress, the jury picked Cloudboy as the winner of the 13 films in post-production.

Finished films screening included Fien Troch’s Home, Peter Monsaert’s Le Ciel Flamand, Bavo Defurne’s Souvenir, Christophe Van Rompaey’s Vincent And The End of the World, and Nic Balthazar’s Everybody Happy.

Peter Bouckaert [pictured] of leading Belgian producer Eyeworks pitched Stijn Coninx’s Don’t Shoot and presented...

Roskam’s third feature The Racer And The Jailbird starring Matthias Schoenaerts will be among the line-up.

Flanders Image – a division of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund — is hosting the first NeXT event from Oct 9-12 in Ghent, Belgium.

The event will include a showcase of new films and pitches of future projects, alongside works in progress presentations from both established names and new talents of Belgian cinema made in Flanders. There will also be a day of talks, workshops and panel discussions that bring together local filmmakers and international experts.

Among the high profile Flemish films to be discussed will be Michael R Roskam’s third feature The Racer And The Jailbird, described as a dark romantic drama and starring his Bullhead star Matthias Schoenaerts alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos; and Loft director Erik Van Looy’s new thriller The Prime Minister, which is being sold by The Works. Those are both part of short works in progress presentations...

Friends of Don Ranvaud remember the recently passed producer-sales agent-academic. “He was guided by ideals in a world where this is becoming rarer,” Salles tells Geoffrey Macnab.

Don Ranvaud was one of the most colourful figures on the international film circuit, a globe-trotting producer-sales agent-journalist-academic whose methods were sometimes chaotic but who inspired enormous affection and loyalty. Following his death last weekend, figures from across the industry have paid tribute to him.

“Don was a passionate, inspiring friend, and all of us who had the privilege to collaborate with him in Brazil are shocked and saddened by his disappearance,” director Walter Salles told Screen. “Don’s whole life revolved around cinema, and it is telling that he passed away in a film festival [Ranvaud suffered a hear attack at the Montreal Film Festival on September 5].

“What interested him was the humanity in films, what we could learn from the story and its characters. Don was vital for Central Station coming to life, as well as...

Flemish Cultural Affairs Minister Joke Schauvliege has greenlit the Flanders Distribution Grant, a new initiative aimed at boosting Flemish productions which are being released theatrically abroad. The selective system, which will run as a pilot project throughout 2013. The initiative is run by Flanders Image, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund’s (Vaf) audiovisual export and promotion agency. The budget for the first year is €389,000 ($526,000).

Belgian cinema from Flanders has been doing increasingly well in recent years: the number of films being invited to festivals, and winning awards at those festivals, has been growing, while local hits such as Bullhead, Come As You Are and North Sea Texas also enjoyed healthy international sales. But while filmmakers were able to apply for financial support to travel to festivals, or to increase the visibility of their films at these festivals, until now there has been no comparable initiative to support the releases of Flemish films overseas.

‘This is another step forward towards the better and wider introduction of Flemish cinema abroad,’ says Flemish Cultural Affairs Minister Joke Schauvliege, who greenlit the scheme. 'We are no longer just supporting films at festivals, but are now also supporting distribution, so that Flemish productions can be seen in even more cinemas around the world.’

A Flanders Distribution Grant can only be obtained by a foreign distributor after they have acquired the rights to the film for their territory. They can then apply for support if they can demonstrate that the grant will make a significant difference to the theatrical release of the film. The money might, for example, be used for organising press junkets, for widening the campaign, or for dubbing the film into the local language. The plan also needs to be approved by the film’s Flemish producer. Only majority-produced Flemish creations are eligible for a Flanders Distribution Grant, and films that have already received distribution support from Media or any other public body are excluded from the scheme. Full regulations can be obtained from Flanders Image.

The selective system, which will have a €389,000 budget in its pilot year, will only be looking to support the most convincing and the strongest applications. ‘We expect distributors to present us with something that is more than just a basic release,’ says Christian De Schutter of Flanders Image. ‘With the Flanders Distribution Grant, we want to make the release of a Flemish film stand out from a regular opening in that territory.’ A jury is to select the best proposals.

On show from Flanders at the European Film Market (Efm) this year are Felix van Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown (int'l sales: The Match Factory), which is invited to the Panorama Special programme where Bullhead premiered two years ago; Allez, Eddy! by Gert Embrechts (Global Screen); Offline by Peter Monsaert (Lumière Publishing); and The Fifth Season by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth (Films Boutique).