Screen Flanders invests 2 million euros in 7 new projects

Le Faux Soir is the new feature film by director Michaël R. Roskam.

November 1943, German-occupied Belgium. The Independent Front, a Belgian resistance organisation, publishes a spoof edition of Le Soir to satirise the German occupiers and their propaganda-controllednewspaper. Le Faux Soir is considered the first act of media hacking in history.

The screenplay is by Michaël R. Roskam and Bernard Falaise. Matthias Schoenaerts will star, alongside Mara Taquin, Bouli Lanners, François Damiens, Julien Frison, Mélanie Thierry and Karim Leklou complete the cast. Le Faux Soir is produced by Belgian production houses Frakas Productions and Harbor Men Pictures in co-production with Rectangle Productions / Goodfellas in France. The latter also represents the feature film internationally. Cinéart will release the feature film in Benelux theatres.

Mary Rose is the second film by Oscar-nominated Irish director Colm Bairéad (The Quiet Girl), who also wrote the screenplay. The film is produced by Inscéal from Ireland, in co-production with Lemming Film Belgium for Flanders.

In the Flemish fiction series Beats of Love, the former members of the iconic ‘90s boy band Beats of Love decide to reunite for a nostalgic comeback concert 25 years after their split. Jackie, Tommy's mother and the band's former ‘momager’, is vehemently opposed. Old wounds will reopen, and secrets emerge that should remain buried - especially about the tragic, mysterious death of Jason, the band's most beloved member.

The screenplay was written by Chingiz Karibekov, Benny Vandendriessche, Janne Desmet, Pieter De Cnudde, Gilles De Schryver and Gilles Coulier. The latter will also direct the series.

Beats of Love is produced by Flemish production house De Wereldvrede in co-production with DPG Media, Merry Films in Germany and 100% in the Netherlands. Be Entertainment is handling international sales.

In the six-part mystery thriller series Die Düsteren (The Dark Ones), which is currently being filmed in Belgium, Soma (Lisa-Marie Koroll) uncovers a dark secret.

On the North Sea island of Kaltenoog, there is a rift between the dimensions. Dangerous beings enter our world through this rift. However, they are not monsters or demons, but humans - at least almost. Because the beings are the worst possible versions of ourselves. Sinister doppelgangers who have made the wrong decisions at important moments in their lives and would do anything to reverse them. To do this, they want to take the place of humans. The only one who can stop them is Soma, a young woman who doubts her powers and is searching for her origins. A mysterious clue brings Soma and her friends Paula (Melodie Simina) and Flynt (Ivo Kortlang) to Kaltenoog. As more and more sinister doppelgangers enter the world, Soma gradually unravels her secret. But who can she trust? Who has not yet been replaced by the dark version of themselves?

The series is based on scripts by Jan-Martin Scharf and Arne Nolting. It is directed by Lea Becker. Most of the filming of the series will take place in Flanders, including around the Zilvermeer lake, on the Flemish coast and in the Lites studios in Vilvoorde, with a predominantly Flemish crew.
The Dark Ones is produced for ZDF by Network Movie and Studio Zentral from Germany in co-production with Beside Productions from Belgium. The series is a collaboration with New8, an international fiction cooperation involving eight public broadcasters.