Czar Film & TV

Recent Czar productions include Skunk, the latest feature from Koen Mortier (Angel, 22nd of May). This follows Liam, a young boy who is taken from his drug-addicted parents and placed in a care home. He struggles to survive, but eventually comes out on top. Co-produced with Baldr Film in the Netherlands, Skunk was a popular success, registering the best local audience figures for a Flemish film in 2024.

“Skunk proved that, even with a tough and sometimes violent subject, you can reach an audience, because it is an impactful story and a story that needs to be told, and it clearly has the signature of the director on it,” says Gysel.

Another recent production was The Weeping Walk, the debut feature of Dimitri Verhulst, about family secrets that emerge when a bizarre last request turns a woman’s funeral into a procession across the countryside. Verhulst is best known as the author of The Misfortunates, filmed in 2009 by Felix Van Groeningen.

Meanwhile, Czar has completed the documentary TV series Voices of Liberation for Netflix. This explores the international memorial route connecting milestones in the liberation of Europe at the end of the Second World War.

Czar’s latest UK co-production is the third season of SAS: Rogue Heroes, made by Kudos for the BBC. This period drama tells the Second World War origin story of the Special Air Service, an elite unit in the British Army. With the action shifting from the desert of North Africa in season one to Europe in season two, the producers approached Czar for further locations to cover season three.

“We started scouting for them, and they decided to shoot here,” says Gysel. As before, Czar sought support from local economic funds to provide extra financing, and made facility connections. “It’s also a good platform to introduce Belgian actors and Belgian crew to these series.”

Czar stands out from its peers in Belgium as an independent boutique production company, building relationships with trusted partners.

Czar’s next project will be Black Wolf, a nature drama animation feature by Raf Wathion, co-written with Koen Mortier. “We have received production support in Flanders and have been invited to pitch the project at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux. And we have lots of international attention,” says Gysel.

Also in the pipeline are new features from Koen Mortier and Dimitri Verhulst, while the Dutch-Belgian co-production Maalstroom is expected to shoot in 2026, telling the story of 11 African refugees travelling through Europe on a Dutch river barge.

Co-productions due to arrive in cinemas in 2026 include historical drama L'Ile de la demoiselle by Micha Wald, Torino film festival winner Garden of Earthly Delights, a tale of survival in the slums of Manila directed by Morgan Knibbe, and Joe Speedboat, directed by Sam de Jong, which tells the story of a damaged teenager who is saved from apathy and disability by the arrival of a new friend.