Frontera: Flanders comes to Spain
Co-productionFrontera may play out on the border between France and Spain, but the film is shot through with Flemish talent: in front of the camera, in key creative departments, in post-production, and in the co-production itself.
Frontera was an ambitious project and the experience of our Flemish producers Bulletproof Cupid with large European co-productions was indispensable. It added value that brought the production to a higher level.
Katleen Goossens, producer and co-founder of Bulletproof Cupid, agrees. “It was a very good match, combining their experience of producing in Spain and our experience in European co-productions,” she says.
Over the past few years, Bulletproof Cupid has become the go-to partner in Flanders for Spanish co-productions. It all began with Clara Roquet’s coming-of-age drama Libertad, which was selected for the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2021. This was followed by O Corno, directed by Jaione Camborda, which was named best film at the San Sebastian Film Festival in 2023, the first feature by a female Spanish director to secure the honour.
Now there is Frontera and, in post-production, Javier Marco’s A la cara (Face to Face).
Equipment and incentives
Frontera is Bulletproof Cupid’s biggest Spanish co-production to date, involving a Flemish contribution at almost every level. “Not only was the whole make-up department Flemish, but literally all of the equipment came from Flanders as well. Cameras, grips, lighting, IT… everything,” says line producer Wim Goossens, the company’s other co-founder.
Sending trucks full of equipment from Belgium to Barcelona and the Pyrenees is not as crazy as it sounds. “You have one big trip with the trucks and then they stay on set, whereas if you get the equipment locally it usually travels back and forth to the location each day,” Wim explains. “So, although it came from three countries away, we did less mileage overall. And the suppliers we work with in Flanders have a broad range of state-of-the-art equipment, so that is also a great plus.”
Handling the equipment in this way meant that at least one person from Flanders could be included in each department on set. “This gave a very good dynamic to the production,” Wim says. “The atmosphere was great.”
Using Flemish equipment also counted towards spending requirements for the various financial incentives that the production was able to draw upon. “About 60% of the spend in Flanders came from the Belgian Tax Shelter and Screen Flanders combined, with the remaining 40% coming from abroad,” says Katleen. “So it was also very good for our local audiovisual industry.”
Acting talent
Frontera is set in September 1943, at the moment when General Franco closed the Spanish border to Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis in France and beyond. This is a dilemma for Manel, who runs the customs house in a small Pyrenean town. His natural instinct is to help the refugees, but now he is meant to stop them and turn them back. Disobey the order, and his family could be in danger.
One of the people helping the refugees cross the border is Jérôme, a French smuggler who knows the mountains like the back of his hand. This provides a rich role for Flemish actor Kevin Janssens, who is well-known from films such as Patrick, Close and Will, and series such as Rough Diamonds and Fair Trade.
“It’s an amazing role for an actor, a very layered character, and Kevin really wanted to do it. The catch was that he didn’t speak Catalan,” Katleen recalls. “So he spent a whole summer working on the language with a dialect coach we provided, and he did an amazing job. I’m proud that we have him.”
Cast opposite him as Rudolf Meyer, the German officer overseeing the border, is Joren Seldeslachts, known for films such as Blind and series such as Dubbelleven and Swanenburg. “He already spoke some German, but also needed to study for his lines in Catalan,” Katleen explains. “But they were both very motivated, and very excited to play these roles.”
A third Flemish cast member is Anna Franziska Jäger (My Queen Karo, Cannes Confidential), who plays one of the refugees. She had to learn some Yiddish for the role. Finally, Lauren Müller has a small role as Saskia, Rudolf Meyers’ wife. “Involving these actors was perfect for such an international project,” Katleen says.
It’s been a pleasure to work with such exceptional talent from Flanders in the cast and crew.
Creating characters
The make-up department on Frontera was headed by Barbara Broucke, who worked for many years at Wētā Workshop in New Zealand before returning to Flanders to set up on her own. “She is brilliant as a head of department,” Wim says. “She speaks all the languages, she’s very experienced, but also very down-to-earth.”
Her expertise is in special make-up effects, from bullet holes to body parts. While this came into play for Frontera, it was not the whole story. “It’s a period drama, which means a lot of attention is paid to hair styles, and there has to be a close cooperation between make-up and the costume department to really design each character,” Wim says.
Music, sound and image
Flemish talent also made a significant contribution to the post-production, all of which was carried out in Flanders. Visual effects were created by Flow Postproduction in Antwerp, colour grading was overseen by Veerle Zeelmaekers, and sound was handled by Thierry De Vries at Screem Inc.
Meanwhile the soundtrack was provided by Liesa Van der Aa, a multi-talented performer and composer. “For some of the scenes she created a Spanish atmosphere, for others she drew on Yiddish songs, so it is a multifaceted soundtrack,” says Katleen. “There are not many female composers in the film business, so we were particularly pleased to be able to work with her.”
Wim concedes that, at first sight, working with Flanders may not seem like the cheapest option. “Producers can be taken aback by some of the budgets, but then they are also surprised by the quality of what we do,” he says. “And with the Flemish funds and incentives, everything balances out. That makes setting up a co-production like this highly worthwhile.”
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