Within the framework of its 19^th session, the Brussels-based regional investment fund screen.brussels is throwing its weight behind 9 projects to the tune of one million Euros.

These include Joachim Lafosse’s new offering Un silence [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Joachim Lafosse
scheda film], which is due to begin shooting in August, a year after the director presented his previous film The Restless [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Joachim Lafosse
scheda film] in competition in Cannes just ahead of its release last autumn. The subject of the movie is being kept under wraps, but we do know that it will star Emmanuelle Devos and Daniel Auteuil alongside young Belgian actress Salomé Dewaels. Just like The Restless, Un silence is produced by Anton Iffland-Stettner and Eva Kuperman on behalf of Stenola Productions (Belgium), in co-production with Jani Thiltges for Samsa Films (Luxembourg) and Antonio Lombardi for Prime Time (Belgium), and henceforth by Régine Vial in France for Les Films du Losange.

screen.brussels is also backing 4 additional feature films, including two Belgian works. Michèle Jacob, who turned heads with her short film Juillet 96, is likewise shooting her first feature film Lost Children [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Michèle Jacob
scheda film] in August, telling the story of 10-year-old Audrey who is gearing up to spend the holidays in an isolated house in the forest with her sister and two brothers. When they realise their father has disappeared, they organise themselves in order to survive and try to find a way to get back home. But the forest prevents them from leaving and the house takes a disliking to Audrey. In an attempt to save her siblings, Audrey has to face up to her nightmares and try to understand their meaning. Lost Children is a project supported by the lightweight production subsidy, produced by Sebastian Schelenz on behalf of Velvet Films (Belgium).

For his part, Jawad Rhalib is making his return to fiction following several acclaimed documentaries (including Fadma: Even Ants Have Wings [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] and When Arabs Danced [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]). Amal [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jawad Rhalib
scheda film] is produced by Geneviève Lemal on behalf of Scope Pictures (Belgium) and by Philippe Lioret for Fin Août Production (France). Lubna Azabal, Fabrizio Rongione and Catherine Salée also appear in the film’s credits.

Another film receiving backing is the animated 2D family feature film Valemon, The Polar Bear King, directed by Mikkel B. Sandemose ( Ragnarok [+leggi anche:
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The final feature awarded aid is La Graine by Eloïse Lang (Dumped [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], The Parisian Bitch [+leggi anche:
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Last but not least, the fund is backing the documentary Le Souffle Court, co-directed by 12 young Belgian filmmakers, the Swiss series Les Indociles [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Delphine Lehericey
scheda film], and who is presenting her latest feature film Last Dance [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Delphine Lehericey
scheda film] on Locarno’s Piazza Grande in a few weeks), and the second seasons of two Belgian webseries, Hacked and Messieurs Pipi.