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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Belgium

The Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre tackles the new challenges of the recovery in its 2021 report

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- The Belgian institution publishes its results, between the continuation of the post-Covid plan, a reflection on diversity, and the frustrated return of audiences to the cinema

The Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre tackles the new challenges of the recovery in its 2021 report
Playground by Laura Wandel

The Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre presented its annual report last Friday, an opportunity to take stock of the post-Covid recovery policies, the evolution of the Commission du Cinéma and of the number of films supported, the results of Belgian films in Belgium and abroad, and the new projects on the table.

To support the profession in its return to activity following the Covid crisis, an envelope of nearly 3 million euros was released. It was mainly aimed at allowing a 20% increase in the amount of production aid, unconditional access to reinvestment bonuses, or the taking care of part of the additional costs of Covid on shoots. 27 new feature-length fiction films were supported this year, out of 174 promises of aid, for a total budget of 10.22 million euros.

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The Centre du Cinéma has also supported operations to encourage the public to return to the cinema. It should be remembered that Belgian cinemas remained closed for more than 5 months in 2021. In Belgium, the most successful French-speaking Belgian films were Playground [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Wandel
film profile
]
by Laura Wandel (20,888 admissions), The Restless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile
]
by Joachim Lafosse (18,369 admissions) and SpaceBoy [+see also:
film review
interview: Olivier Pairoux
film profile
]
by Olivier Pairoux (15,047). For comparison, these figures are in line with those of European arthouse films, knowing that films like Titane [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julia Ducournau, Vincent Li…
film profile
]
or The Worst Person in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile
]
are also close to 20,000 admissions, or that Lost Illusions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
made 11,000 admissions. These films naturally spread to other French-speaking territories (first and foremost France, of course), offering them a wider audience potential.

However, there are many candidates for success, and attendance remains a major concern. In almost constant decline for several years, the Covid crisis marked a sudden halt, and we can see that the Belgian public is shunning theatres and concentrating its attention more and more on a few titles. Winning back these audiences remains one of the major challenges for the coming year.

One of the other issues highlighted was the representation of diversity. A series of initiatives has been put in place to raise awareness and to encourage, such as the collection of figures, the training of professionals but also of non-professionals, and the attempt to create a diversity dynamic by encouraging productions to observe and reflect upon their approach to diversity, both in front of and behind the camera.

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(Translated from French)

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