Directory of World Cinema: Belgium
Vol 22
List activity
113 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
80 titles
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsGian Maria VolontèSami FreyJacques LippeIn the sixteenth century, Spain occupies Flanders, an Inquisition enforces the faith. Aging writer and philosopher, Zénon Ligre, comes to Bruges using a false name and papers to serve as a physician to the poor, establishing a clinic and steam bath. His methods and opinions are outside the mainstream, but he has the protection and friendship of the local Prior. Zénon, an aristocrat with a degree in canon law, lives humbly. He learns of bacchanals under Masonic signs involving monks and women, and he warns those involved. The Prior is dying, and he urges Zénon to flee to England. Zénon burns his writing. Will he leave or will he face ecclesiastical accusers and, perhaps, the stake?
- DirectorFrédéric FonteyneStarsNathalie BayeSergi LópezJacques VialaA woman puts an ad in a magazine looking for a man to fulfill her fantasy of a stringless, anonymous pornographic affair.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsStanislas MerharMarc BarbéAurora MarionThe tale of an Occidental merchant whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice.
- DirectorPeter BrosensJessica WoodworthStarsMagaly SolierJasmin TabatabaiOlivier GourmetA former war photographer and her physician husband are caught up in a riot when locals in an Andean village vent their unhappiness with contamination from a nearby mine.
- DirectorHélène CattetBruno ForzaniStarsCassandra ForêtCharlotte Eugène GuibeaudMarie BosAs a young girl Ana was a rebellious child. She was also tormented by images of death and a shadowy, ominous figure in black. Now an adult, she is once again tormented by shadowy, other-worldly forms.
- DirectorPeter KrügerStarsThessa KrügerJohan LeysenANTWERP CENTRAL takes the viewer on a journey through the physical and mental space of Antwerp's railway cathedral, from its construction to the present day. Drawing inspiration from the book "Austerlitz" by W.G. Sebald, screenwriter/director Peter Krüger approaches Antwerp Central Railway Station as a magical realistic location where present and past, history and daily life, fiction and reality are in constant flux. Running as a thread through the film are the dreams and reminiscences of a traveler, played by Johan Leysen, who arrives at Antwerp Central and through whose eyes we observe the station. He draws our attention not only to the striking architecture and historical context of the building, but also to its hidden and mysterious aspects. A peacock spreads its wings; time stands still; a lion roams the grand waiting hall; an old steam loc enters the station; a choir performs on the monumental staircase leading to the platforms - Reality turns to dream and vice versa. But what is reality? And what is dream? Is time not more than the transformation of space?
- DirectorTom BarmanStarsFrank VercruyssenDiane De BelderEric KloeckSort of a low-budget Short Cuts (1993), set in the Flemish port city of Antwerp on a warm day in June. Natalie, her brother Chouki, her boyfriend Walter and his ex Lara, the gallery keeper Firmin, unhappily married French language teacher Paul Garcin, a couple of party-loving studs from Ghent (another Flemish city) and the enigmatic Windman, independently go about their lives, which have little in common, yet all end up on the same place for a grand party that evening.
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsAnna KarinaMathieu CarrièreRoger Van HoolIn 1917, the First World War is raging. Julien is from Luxembourg, so instead of having to go to war he studies piano in Paris. One day his friend Jacques, also a musician and now a fighter pilot on the front, invites him to spend a few days in his family's empty house in Bray. The housekeeper, a beautiful but mute woman lets Julien in, but his friend is late and he is obliged to wait. In the meantime, he starts reminiscing of the pre-war days spent with his friend and Jacques' girlfriend Odile.
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsJean-Luc BideauDanièle DelormeAdriana BogdanThe aging romancier Mathieu Grégoire falls in love with a female stranger who doesn't even understand his language. Their uncommon relationship upsets his family.
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsFanny ArdantVittorio GassmanFrançoise FabianA passionate affair set against the intense encounter between a film-maker and a novelist. The story begins with young scriptwriter François tracking down the author of a once-scandalous novel. His aim is to adapt the work for the screen but several elements of the novel he finds difficult to comprehend. The author, Jeanne, is initially cautious of relaying information, insisting the presumably autobiographical book in no way relates to her personal life. However, eventually she takes the man into confidence to tell the background of Benvenuta. She paints the picture of a musical virtuoso who against her better judgment becomes involved with an Italian magistrate. It's a no-holds-barred passion of hot temperaments doomed to a miserable conclusion.
- DirectorNic BalthazarStarsMarijke PinoyGreg TimmermansCesar De SutterAs an alternative to getting bullied at school, an autistic teenager retreats into the world of online role-playing games.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanA young girl shuts herself away in her apartment and goes about her business in a strange way, as she wastes the night in her apartment.
- DirectorSamy SzlingerbaumStarsHélène LapiowerBoris LehmanJeremy WaldFictional re-enactments about the early years in Belgium of the director's parents, Jewish immigrants from Poland, and scenes taken in modern Brussels in this elliptical experimental feature.
- DirectorMichaël R. RoskamStarsMatthias SchoenaertsJeroen PercevalJeanne DandoySint-Truiden, Belgium. Jacky, a young cattle farmer who is constantly pumped on steroids and hormones, is approached by a veterinarian to make a deal with a notorious beef trader.
- DirectorJan BucquoyStarsJean-Henri CompèreFanny HanciauxLolo FerrariOn a Belgian beach at Camping Cosmos. The delegate send by the Ministry is confronted with sex and murder. The residents enjoy their holidays in a peculiar way...
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsStanislas MerharSylvie TestudOlivia BonamyAn adaptation of Proust's "La Prisoniere" (book five of "Remembrance of Things Past"). Set in Paris, France, it is a serious tale of a tragic and dysfunctional love.
- DirectorJacques FeyderStarsFrançoise RosayAndré AlermeJean MuratTells the story of the Spanish invasion of Flanders
- DirectorBenoît MariageStarsBenoît PoelvoordeMorgane SimonBouli LannersDreaming of more than his routine life, a father pushes his 15 years old son to break a world record: opening and closing a door 40,000 times in 24 hours.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsJérémie RenierDéborah FrançoisJérémie SegardBruno and Sonia, a young couple living off her benefit and the thefts committed by his gang, have a new source of money: their newborn son.
- DirectorPhilippe FalardeauStarsOlivier GourmetPaul AhmaraniJean-Pierre CasselAn eccentric Belgian inventor travels to Québec to search for his family, which uncovers a secret history between two seemingly unrelated people.
- DirectorStijn ConinxStarsJan DecleirGérard DesartheAntje de BoeckIn the 1890s, Father Adolf Daens goes to Aalst, a textile town where child labor is rife, pay and working conditions are horrible, the poor have no vote, and the Catholic church backs the petite bourgeoisie in oppressing workers. He writes a few columns for the Catholic paper, and soon workers are listening and the powerful are in an uproar. He's expelled from the Catholic party, so he starts the Christian Democrats and is elected to Parliament. After Rome disciplines him, he must choose between two callings, as priest and as champion of workers. In subplots, a courageous young woman falls in love with a socialist and survives a shop foreman's rape; children die; prelates play billiards.
- DirectorHarry KümelStarsDelphine SeyrigJohn KarlenDanielle OuimetWhile passing through a vacation resort, a newlywed couple encounters a mysterious, strikingly beautiful countess and her aide.
- DirectorRobbe De HertGuido HenderickxA documentary about cycling and the death of worldchampion Jean-Pierre Monseré in 1971.
- DirectorMarion HänselStarsJane BirkinTrevor HowardJohn MatshikizaA South African spinster (Jane Birkin) murders her father (Trevor Howard) after he rapes the wife of the black foreman for his plantation.
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsDaniel AuteuilPascal DuquenneMiou-MiouAn unusual and wonderful friendship develops between a busy but unhappy salesman and a resident of a mental asylum.
- DirectorBouli LannersStarsBouli LannersFabrice AddePhilippe NahonYvan finds a burglar in his house. He doesn't call the police and decides to give the young man a lift home to his parents.
- DirectorDominique DeruddereStarsJosse De PauwEva van der GuchtWerner De SmedtJean is a family man and factory worker who dreams of becoming a songwriter. Pinning his hopes on his teenage daughter, Marva, he takes her to singing contests in which the awkward and overweight girl struggles to belt out a tune. When Jean is suddenly fired because of cut backs, he is ashamed and even more desperate to have his daughter succeed. In a chance meeting Jean kidnaps the most famous pop star in the country and holds her hostage demanding to be heard by the music industry. Catching the attention of the media and the eyes of the nation, Jean and Marva realize that the show must go on until everyone is famous.
- DirectorKoen MortierStarsDries VanhegenNorman BaertGunter LamootThree handicapped losers who form a band ask famous writer Dries to be their drummer. He joins the band and starts manipulating them.
- DirectorDominique AbelFiona GordonBruno RomyStarsDominique AbelFiona GordonBruno RomyA hotel clerk searches all over Le Havre for the fairy who made two of his three wishes come true before disappearing.
- DirectorGérard CorbiauStarsStefano DionisiEnrico Lo VersoElsa ZylbersteinThe story of castrato opera singer Carlo Broschi, who enthralled 18th-century European audiences under his stage name Farinelli.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsNatalia ChakhovskaiaA look at life in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- DirectorChantal AkermanA documentary look at the fate of Mexicans who cross the border into the United States.
- DirectorNicole Van GoethemThree scantily-clad female figures struggle to hold up the crumbling remains of an ancient Greek temple.
- DirectorRaoul ServaisStarsWill SpoorFran Waller ZeperSjoert SchwibethusAn unknowing man rescues a rather aggressive and demanding harpy.
- DirectorBenoît LamyStarsClaude JadeJacques PerrinAnn PetersenAn uprising of the elderly, in the colourful setting of a Brussels retirement home, with its delightful, fragile and anarchistic residents.
- DirectorDominique StandaertStarsKalomba MboyiJan DecleirAntje de BoeckAll Justin and his father want to do is sit down and enjoy a soccer game together. This simple act sparks a chain of events leading to Justin running from the law. He must embark on a thrilling adventure to re-unite with his father. But in order to fight the system, he must enlist the help of a former anarchist and together they will need to apply the secret of the HOP.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanNiels ArestrupClaire Wauthion'Je' is a girl voluntarily lock up in a room. 'Tu' is the script. 'Il' is a lorry driver. 'Elle' is the girlfriend.
- DirectorDominique AbelFiona GordonBruno RomyStarsLucy TulugarjukFiona GordonDominique AbelFiona, Julien and their two clone-like children live a life appropriate to the robots they have become, in a style-less, cheerless suburb somewhere in the flatlands of French-speaking Europe. Even the simple act of buttering and eating a roll takes on the appearance of an assembly line. When Fiona, who manages a fast-food restaurant, accidentally locks herself in the restaurant's walk-in freezer overnight, her family doesn't even miss her. She realizes how pointless her life has become and runs away; to seek happiness, put her life right again and perhaps to visit the icebergs with which she begins an obsession. On a bus trip to nowhere, she becomes friendly with an older lady, Fernande, who offers Fiona a place to stay and diversion in her seaside community. There, Fiona becomes attracted to René, who owns a small sailboat, and has been a deaf-mute since a fire in which his parents died. In time, the pair embark on a sailing voyage, unknowingly pursued by the persistent Julien, who has managed to track Fiona down. When the men squabble and fall overboard, Fiona sets sail for the polar regions with a vengeance, ultimately tearing the bottom out of the boat on - you guessed it - an iceberg! Miraculously, the three castaways are all fished out of the ocean by Lucy, an Inuit girl who operates a commercial fishing boat. The final resolution of the love triangle caps the farcical nature of this unusual film.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsDelphine SeyrigJan DecorteHenri StorckA lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsThomas DoretCécile de FranceJérémie RenierAbandoned by his father, a young boy is left in a state-run youth farm. In a random act of kindness, the town hairdresser agrees to foster him on weekends.
- DirectorMichel OcelotRaymond BurletStarsDoudou Gueye ThiawMaimouna N'DiayeAwa Sene SarrKirikou, an unusual little boy, must search the wisdom of the forbidden mountain in order to save his village from a spell cast by the evil sorceress Karaba
- DirectorMartine DoyenStarsArnoValérie LemaîtreEdith ScobA man assumes the identity of a dead person and convinces a young amnesiac that he is part of her life.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanAkerman spends a month in Tel Aviv, in an apartment by the sea, contemplating her family, her Jewish identity and her childhood.
- DirectorPaul MeyerStarsBrighellaGiuseppe CerquaLuigi FavottoWhat was supposed to be a documentary to show the progressive nature of Belgium in regards to its immigration policy, turned out to be something completely the opposite. Struck by what he saw, the director decided to take the funds issued to him by the Belgian government to make a film which showed life as it really was in the mining region of Borinage. The promise of a better life for the immigrants, which the Belgian government wanted to show, was nowhere to be found in this film. Instead, we look in on reality of life in Borinage, with staggering unemployment, and a feeling by many of displacement and homesickness.
- DirectorBoris LehmanStarsAlain BlumSimone BohlerFreddy Buache
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsArta DobroshiJérémie RenierFabrizio RongioneLorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, has her sights set on opening a snack bar with her lover Sokol. In order to do so, she has become involved in a scam conducted by Fabio, a gangster.
- DirectorDominique DeruddereStarsJosse De PauwGeert HunaertsMichael PasThree 'Bukowskian' torrid nights in the life of a man in search of love. Harry, 12, is young and naive. Love, for him, is romantic love between princes and princesses demurely kissing each other on the mouth. His father is a hero who kidnapped his mother and married her on a lonely mountain peak - Later on, he'll do the same. But Harry has a lot to learn. He also learns that there are handsome men and ugly ones, that love can be unfair. That one can find comfort in drinking - but above all he learns that man is capable of anything - absolutely anything. - to get his fair share of love.
- DirectorHarry KümelStarsOrson WellesSusan HampshireMichel BouquetA young sailor finds himself trapped in the labyrinthine mansion of his occultist uncle, along with a number of eccentric and mysterious relatives who all seem to be harboring a dark secret.
- DirectorRémy BelvauxAndré BonzelBenoît PoelvoordeStarsBenoît PoelvoordeJacqueline Poelvoorde-PappaertNelly PappaertA film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsSenne RouffaerBeata TyszkiewiczHector CamerlynckGovert Miereveld is a schoolteacher who has an unhealthy obsession with Fran, one of his students. On the day of Fran's graduation, Govert decides that he needs to tell her.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsAurore ClémentHelmut GriemMagali NoëlAnna, a detached and diffident director, arrives in Germany to show her latest film; she checks into a hotel, invites a stranger to her bed, and abruptly tells him to leave. He asks her to a birthday lunch with his mother and daughter; she goes. Afterward, in Cologne, she meets an old friend, a Polish Jew and war refugee. In Brussels, she spends the night at a hotel with her mother, whom she rarely sees. On the train, a stranger tells his story. Last, it's home to Paris, where her lover Daniel picks her up and they go to a hotel. Throughout, people make personal revelations to her, and Anna listens with little affect. Although it was 30 years ago, the war seems ever present.
- DirectorErik Van LooyStarsKoen De BouwWerner De SmedtJan DecleirVincke and Verstuyft are the best detectives of the Antwerp police department. They are confronted with the murder on a leading executive and put all their effort to catch the murderer.
- DirectorFelix van GroeningenStarsKenneth VanbaedenValentijn DhaenensKoen De GraeveA thirty-something novelist and impending father looks back on his all-too-formative years in the hapless, alcohol-ridden milieu of his youth in 1980s rural Flanders, Belgium.
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsJared LetoSarah PolleyDiane KrugerA boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.
- DirectorGérard CorbiauStarsJosé van DamAnne RousselPhilippe VolterAging opera singer Joachim Dallayrac retires from the stage and retreats to the countryside to school two young singers, Sophie and Jean. Although the rigorous training takes its toll on both teacher and students, there is plenty of time for relationships to develop between the three. Based on their teacher's reputation, Sophie and Jean are invited to participate in a singing contest staged by Prince Scotti. Scotti's protege is set up to get revenge for Scotti's defeat at the hands of Dallayrac in a similar competition many years ago. The young students overcome Scotti's trickery to win the competition.
- DirectorAlain BerlinerStarsGeorges Du FresneMichèle LaroqueJean-Philippe ÉcoffeyLudovic is an innocent seven-year-old child who provokes horror in his community when he dresses in girls clothes and insists he's a girl.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanImpersonal and beautiful images of Akerman's life in New York are combined with letters from her loving but manipulative mother, read by Akerman herself.
- DirectorJean-Pol FerbusDominique GarnyThierry ZénoThis morbid, unusual, and critically acclaimed documentary was filmed in the most exotic locations all over the world. Of the Dead (Des Morts) deals with death, the soon dead, and the living they leave behind. Our senses are shown no mercy as we witness the brutal execution of a Phillippine Guerrilla. We are literally taken inside a cremation chamber while a human body melts and finally crumbles into nothingness. We witness-first hand- doctors trying to save a victim of multiple stab wounds, all close up, in graphic detail leaving nothing to the imagination. For those who think they have seen it all, Of the Dead, dares to be seen.
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsYves MontandAnouk AiméeAdriana BogdanMathias is a Belgian linguist, living with French theatre producer Anne. After a quarrel about moral questions, they take a train to attend a congress. While Mathias sleeps, Anne disappears. The train stops in the middle of the country and Mathias gets off the train with an older man, Hernhutter, and a young one, Val. The train moves off without them being able to catch it up. They will find a village, but cannot get any help because they do not understand a word of what the inhabitants say...
- DirectorJoachim LafosseStarsÉmilie DequenneClaire BodsonNiels ArestrupHappy couple, will marry and have children under the roof of the benevolent Doctor. Little by little, relationships become complex, suffocating the couple and the family, who are unaware of the tragic end towards which they are heading
- DirectorJoachim LafosseStarsJonas BloquetJonathan ZaccaïClaire BodsonAn aspiring tennis player is taken under the wing of an established player as his family life falls apart.
- DirectorJoachim LafosseStarsIsabelle HuppertJérémie RenierYannick RenierA divorced mother of two boys reaching adulthood decides to sell their house, find love and get on with her life away from her husband and sons; a decision that will lead to an escalating fraternal dispute.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsJérémie RenierOlivier GourmetAssita OuedraogoRoger uses his son Igor to ruthlessly traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. When one of the immigrants is killed, Igor is guilt-ridden and wants to care for the dead man's family against his father's orders.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsÉmilie DequenneFabrizio RongioneAnne YernauxYoung and impulsive Rosetta lives with her alcoholic mother and, moved by despair, she will do anything to maintain a job.
- DirectorDominique AbelFiona GordonBruno RomyStarsDominique AbelFiona GordonPhilippe MartzTeachers in a rural school, happy couple Fiona and Dom have a common passion: Latin Dancing. One night, after a glorious dance competition, they have a car accident and see their lives turn upside down. Rumba or how optimism and humour can overcome fatality!
- DirectorJan BucquoyStarsJean-Henri CompèreNoe FrancqIsabelle LegrosA semi-autobiography of the first 28 years of the director, the Flemish anarchist Jan Bucquoy.
- DirectorPatrick LongchampsStarsLaura AntonelliMaurizio Degli EspostiPatrick MageeWhile at a bullfight Simona begins flashing back to a torrid sexual relationship she had with George (Maurizio Degli Esposti). Her relationship with George was one of open sexual discoveries which eventually led to revenge and murder.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsOlivier GourmetMorgan MarinneIsabella SoupartA joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.
- DirectorChantal AkermanA documentary examining the effect of a man dragged to death on the residents in Jasper, Texas.
- DirectorRaoul ServaisStarsArmin Mueller-StahlElliott SpiersKatja StudtA young prince is taken for tuition at a seaside hotel but quickly bores and wanders off to visit a nearby lighthouse. Befriended by the keeper, he learns of a secret world he can see inside the light of the lamp: the world of Taxandria, ruled by the dictatorship of the 'eternal present' where all machines, progress, and time have been banned. However, a naive but creative printing clerk unwittingly causes a revolution when he upsets a printing press and tries to replace the spilled letters only to have his new words taken for a subversive code. On the run he falls in love with a princess, discovers the forbidden art of photography, and sets out to fulfill his dream of building a flying machine.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsSylvie TestudAurore ClémentJean-Pierre MarielleCharlotte is single. She tries to write erotic books to survive without her mind being in the least absorbed by eroticism or desire.
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsMichel BouquetMireille PerrierJo De BackerThomas believed he was switched at birth with Alfred. Feeling cheated, Thomas spent his life plotting revenge against Alfred, his perceived lifelong adversary who he felt stole the privileged life that should have been his.
- DirectorStéphane AubierVincent PatarStarsStéphane AubierJeanne BalibarNicolas BuysseCowboy and Indian's only wish was to come up with a brilliant idea for Mr Horse's birthday, but when their plan ends up in utter disaster, they'll need to travel the world and back to make things right again.
- DirectorFien TrochStarsDéborah AmsensPatrick DescampsEmmanuelle DevosGrace is still grappling with the disappearance of her daughter five years earlier. Her husband Lukas is trapped in his own helpless grief. He and Grace have long since stopped communicating. As Grace confronts a series of small absurdities in her apartment building, Lukas finds himself unable to complete even the simplest of daily tasks. When something truly heartbreaking happens in a family, the deepest response is often unspoken. In this intimate and moving film, the Belgian director probes those inchoate emotions, seeking a visual language for the unsaid. She creates a world in which small gestures can explode with meaning.
- DirectorPatrick Van AntwerpenStarsMarco BadotJean-Marie BuchetLuc de SmetA comedy of the workday world centering on a day in a supermarket complex.
- DirectorThierry ZénoStarsDominique GarnyAn allegoric male character falls in love with his pig.
- DirectorYolande MoreauGilles PorteStarsYolande MoreauWim WillaertOlivier GourmetIrene is on tour with her one-woman-show "Sale Affaire" in the north of France. When she runs into Dries, who carries giants in fairs, it's the beginning of a love story that bears an uncanny resemblance to the show performed by Irene on stage.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsAurore ClémentTchéky KaryoAngelo AbazoglouFollowing over two dozen different people in the almost wordless atmosphere of a dark night in a Brussels town, Akerman examines acceptance and rejection in the realm of romance.
- DirectorAndré DelvauxStarsMarie-Christine BarraultRutger HauerRoger Van HoolThe story of a woman's love for two young men. Antwerp, Belgium, 1940. Lieve (Marie-Christine Barrault) marries Adriaan (Rutger Hauer), a Flemish idealist, who is drawn towards Germany by the occupation to the Eastern Front. She shelters the resistant François (Roger Van Hool) in 1942 and discovers with him what love is really about. At the liberation, she's reunited with a bruised and sentenced Adriaan. In spite of her passion for François, she cannot bring herself to abandon him in these trying circumstances. But she slowly drifts away from her husband, while she senses that François, who is monopolized by his career, is slowly drifting away from her.