By MICHAËL R. ROSKAM

Belgium’s official Academy Awards® entry
By MICHAËL R. ROSKAM
JEROEN PERCEVAL
JEANNE DANDOY
BARBARA SARAFIAN
SAM LOUWYCK
a film by Michaël R. Roskam
Young cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias
Schoenaerts) is approached by an unscrupulous
veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious beef
trader.
But the assassination of a federal policeman and an
unexpected confrontation with a mysterious secret
from Jacky’s past set in motion a chain of events with
far-reaching consequences.
Bullhead is an emotionally driven tale of revenge,
redemption and fate set against the backdrop of the
Belgian bovine hormone mafia.
It is an exciting tragedy about fate, lost innocence and
friendship, about crime and punishment, but also about
conflicting desires and the irreversibility of a man’s
destiny.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Bullhead is a complex contemporary tragedy with strong comic as well as grotesque
elements, typical of my work. The main references for my filmic universe are the
Coen brothers, Akira Kurosawa and Quentin Tarantino. It is crucial to understand
that the heaviness of this contemporary film noir/tragedy that deals with age-old
questions as well as with contemporary issues is balanced against two very strong
counter-forces. On the one hand humor, grotesque scenes and dialogues, local
settings and dialects, on the other hand the visual aspect of the movie and strong
acting performances.
The script is tightly organized around a core idea that is explored in various
directions that exceed the literal level: manhood and masculine virtues like courage/
cowardice, hormones and the question of nature/artifice. In this way, a story set in
the contemporary environment of the hormones-trade acquires the characteristics
of a classical tragedy. The protagonists are driven by Fate or Destiny against which
they are to a certain extent powerless. The story is triggered when Fate brings two
damaged characters, Jacky and Diederik, back together through their involvement
in the illegal hormone trade. It is the chemistry of this accidental meeting that is the
inciting incident of the tragic evolution of the film.
The focus is not so much on the psychological development of the characters as
on the ethical dilemma’s they face: friendship, revenge, betrayal and manhood.
Both Jacky and Diederik have clear goals. Jacky’s goal is to regain a sense of
being a man in the fullest sense of the word. Despite all the hormones he has been
taking, he cannot repair what has been taken from him. Unfortunately, the abuse
of hormones has affected his personality and turned the hurted little boy into an
aggressive ‘beast’. After the meeting with Diederik, Jacky tries to recover some of
his lost manhood and humanity by going back to Lucia, the girl he fancied when
he was still a normal boy. Because of his lack of control, his quest – like the tragic
hero’s – is doomed to fail. Diederik, the antagonist, is not an opponent of Jacky: he
is not blamed by Jacky, but he blames himself. Like Jacky, he is also marked by
the traumatic events of the past. His goal is that he has to come to terms with his
cowardice, even doubled by his father’s betrayal and suicide.
Diederik’s homosexuality, which is necessarily hidden in the gangster milieu, helps
us understand the depth of his feelings for his childhood friend Jacky. All these
motivations and emotions are shown rather than explained.
Michaël R. Roskam
‘Fate shows itself, therefore,
in the view of life, as condemned,
as having essentially first been
condemned and then become guilty.’
Walter Benjamin
‘Bullhead is a film about people
being driven to extremes. It is
not about cowboys and Indians,
about good or evil, but about
how seemingly small events can
sometimes have huge consequences
for the people involved. Their fate is
also their destiny.’
Michaël R.Roskam
INTERVIEW
with Michaël R. Roskam
A tragic tale of destiny and innocence
Early on in Michaël R. Roskam’s Bullhead there is a
shot of the main character Jacky sitting on the edge of
a bath in the near dark. It’s an image eerily reminiscent
of paintings by Lucian Freud or Francis Bacon. It is often
said of these artists that they depict the human body as if
it is a lump of flesh in an abattoir. In Bullhead, set in the
world of hormone smuggling, the slaughterhouse isn’t
just a metaphor. The world that Jacky inhabits is one
in which cattle are injected with drugs that make them
grow quicker so that they can be killed quicker and more
profitably.
Text Geoffrey Macnab |
Portrait Rudy Lamborday
In the late 1990s, a vet was murdered in Belgium because he pried too closely
into what was happening in the slaughterhouses. He had stumbled on a scheme
to fatten livestock artificially - and illegally. The farmers behind it intimidated and
bribed anyone in a position to reveal what they were doing. The police were
slow to respond. After all, you don’t expect the agricultural world to be a hotbed
of Mafia corruption. When the vet had exposed the farmers, they had had to
destroy the bulls which had been fattened. They were furious at losing lots of
money. That’s why the vet was killed.
Roskam studied the case in great detail. No, Bullhead isn’t based directly
on what happened. This is fiction, after all. However, he freely acknowledges
that this notorious case was one of the inspirations for his movie. ‘For me,
Bullhead is like a tragedy,’ the writer-director muses. ‘It’s a tragic tale of destiny
and innocence. I’ve always been fascinated by the American gangster films. I
love them! I wanted to do one in my own way, on my own soil, with my own
background.’
strange rituals
Roskam realised it would be utterly implausible to make a Godfather-style
gangster pic in Belgium. ‘It doesn’t really exist,’ he says of the type of brooding,
Italian-American mafia bosses played by Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Of
course, Belgium has crime. By honing in on the close-knit world of the ‘bovine
hormone mafia’, he hoped to find a local equivalent to the Corleones and their
sidekicks.
Bullhead has a conventional thriller narrative. There are cops, informers and
plenty of heavies. However, this is as much a psychological character study as it
is a gangster pic. Jacky has been deeply traumatised in childhood. As an adult,
he has transformed himself into a bulky, muscle-bound and very imposing figure.
No one messes with him. At the same time, Roskam insists, the character has
an innocence and even an idealism about him.
As a youngster, Roskam spent a few months working on a farm in the area where
the film is set. He knew the milieu inside out. It’s a tough and unforgiving world.
‘But there are different social levels,’ he remembers. He was lucky enough to be
employed by ‘gentleman farmers’ who were prepared to hire student workers.
There are some strange rituals in rural Flanders. When men are still unmarried
in their 30s, they are often relentlessly mocked. ‘It’s typical that when you are
30 and you are single, your friends will take one of the worst pictures of you
they can find. They’ll copy it, call you an ox, and distribute leaflets and posters
which say that you are treating everybody to beer in the local pub. You have to
go through with it.’
‘I’ve always been fascinated by
the American gangster films.
I love them! I wanted to do one
in my own way, on my own soil,
with my own background.’
R2D2 and C3P0
Bullhead is a very intense piece of filmmaking but it does have a comic undertow. Two hapless
mechanics get caught up in the hormone mafia. These French-speakers are bewildered and
appalled by the behaviour of their Flemish counterparts.
‘You know, in The Hidden Fortress by Kurosawa, you have two low-lifes... or actually it’s like
R2D2 and C3PO in Star Wars. They also help push the plot. Because of their stupidity, they
actually create the circumstances that lead to the downfall of the main characters.’
Bullhead is Roskam’s first feature... and it took him five years to get it in front of the cameras.
Over the last decade, he has made several well-received shorts. In the meantime, he worked
on the Bullhead screenplay. And there have been some false starts along the way but the
characteristic he has learned is patience. ‘I am old enough now to understand that I have to be
patient and to work, work, work until the screenplay is as pure as I can have it.’
Roskam’s producer is Bart Van Langendonck of Savage Film. They already worked together on
the short films.
Francis Bacon
The 38-year-old filmmaker grew up not far from the community he portrays in Bullhead. His
father is a picture restorer. Roskam began his own career as a painter. ‘I was very much inspired
by guys like Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud,’ he recalls. His initial passion as a teenager
had been drawing comics. He studied graphic design and painting but soon decided that he
‘wanted to tell stories, to go from A to B,’ and not to be stuck with a single image. In his late
20s, he wasn’t quite sure which direction he wanted to head in. He wrote novels and dabbled
in experimental video. ‘At 27 and 28, I was a big mess,’ he reflects ruefully. ‘It was a very dark
period. I thought I would never find my feet. I lost discipline. I couldn’t finish work.’
He describes making his first short film as being like ‘coming home’. At last, he had found a
medium in which he could express himself.
Yes, filmmaking is expensive and complex by comparison with painting on your own in a studio.
It is also immensely time-consuming and there is often a small eternity between having an idea
and being able to make the actual movie. ‘But I always make a joke about it. I am kind of lazy.
I say that now I can disguise my laziness with patience!’
Bullhead was shot on 35mm. Not that the director considers himself a ‘fetishist of film stock’. He
relished the quality and depth that cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis was able to achieve.
However, if a digital format offered similar quality, he says he’d change immediately. ‘Up to
now, the difference between film and digital has been like that between oil painting and acrylic
painting.’
Karakatsanis is an outspoken personality with a strong artistic vision of his own. That’s precisely
why Roskam relished working with him. ‘Many of the people I work with are not easy guys but I
liked it. They keep me sharp. Easy is boring. They’re sharp, funny and serious at the same time.
They want to work until everything is just right.’
MICHAËL R. ROSKAM (1972)
After obtaining his Master degree in sciptwriting
and development at the Binger Film Lab in
1995, Michaël R. Roskam made several critically
acclaimed shorts. Bullhead is his feature debut.
Today Is Friday (2007, short film)
12’ | Production Savage Film and Roskam Films
The One Thing To Do (2005, short film)
25’ | Production Bart Van Langendonck/CCCP
and SCIAPODE in collaboration with ARTE
Carlo (2004, short film)
18’ | Production Bart Van Langendonck/CCCP
and Quasi Modo
Haun (2002, short film)
8’35” | Production Quasi Modo
Interview first published in
#19, 2011
‘Schoenaerts gives the kind of performance that
makes stars out of actors.’
Indiewire
‘Schoenaerts presents Jacky as a raging bull
whose tragedy we can identify with even as his
fury terrifies us - and seals his own fate.’
Screen International – Fionnuala Halligan
‘Matthias Schoenaerts’ raging bull a standout
performance in crime drama that’s light on
crime, heavy on drama.’
The Hollywood Reporter – Natasha Senjanovic
‘Schoenaerts’ performance, which will surely
attract awards attention, is almost entirely
internalised, and all the more remarkable for it.’
Screen International – Fionnuala Halligan
INTERVIEW
with Matthias Schoenaerts
Beefing Up
Take 3000 tins of tuna, several hundred chickens, plenty
of oats, rice and pasta. Combine them with days spent
pumping iron and long nights of uninterrupted sleep.
This is the regime that enabled the slender Flemish actor
Matthias Schoenaerts to transform himself into the bulky
and brooding figure we see on screen in Michaël R.
Roskam’s debut film, Bullhead. It’s a remarkable piece of
character acting in the vein of Robert De Niro’s celebrated
turn as Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. Schoenaerts spent
two years preparing for Bullhead.
Text Geoffrey Macnab | Portrait Thomas Vanhaute
The Matthias Schoenaerts who walks into the interview room is big... but not as
big as the hulk-like character he plays on screen. He is still on a programme to
lose some of the weight and muscle he piled on for his role as the illegal growth
hormone dealer in Bullhead. ‘By nature, I am a very skinny person,’ he observes.
When director Roskam first mentioned the project to him, he told Schoenaerts:
‘you’re gonna have to grow enormously!’ The actor shrugged and said, ‘oh, OK,’
as if this was an easy and straightforward request.
Schoenaerts began work on his transformation ‘right away’, more than two
years before production began. ‘I started working out so that the body gets used
to this kind of exercise,’ he recalls. He gained a little weight which he managed
to maintain even as he took on other roles which didn’t require him to look quite
so... hulk-like. Then, about a year before the start of shooting, he accelerated the
process. ‘I had a personal trainer. He had a very strong program for me.’ Eat,
work out, sleep - eat, work out, sleep. This was his routine. He’d drink gallons
of water. ‘Your organs have to work at 300%. They’re absorbing the food. They
have to process it.’
David Cronenberg
Some tantalising offers came his way in the months leading up to shooting.
For example, he auditioned for a part in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method.
The audition went well and the casting agents wanted to call him back.
However, he had pledged his commitment to Bullhead and so had to let the
opportunity slip.
Friends and family were startled by the changes in Schoenaerts’ appearance
in the run-up to Bullhead. ‘There were a couple of people that I hadn’t seen
for a couple of months. They saw me and were like - what has happened to
you!’ The actor’s mother was especially startled. She suspected that he was
‘messing with some nasty products’. That, the actor insists, was never the case.
His metamorphosis was done ‘clean’.
And, yes, after a while, the whole punishing process became strangely enjoyable.
‘I had this goal and I started enjoying it because I saw the physical transformation
was happening.’
Jacky, his character in Bullhead, is emotionally repressed. There is a terrible
secret in his past which the audience learns about in a flashback sequence.
‘He is not the most likeable person but he is the victim of an enormous emotional
and chemical imbalance in his body,’ the actor muses of the troubled young man
he plays. ‘That makes him a very vulnerable person. Of course, he has a lot of
aggression but there are a lot of things that he is not able to experience in his
life... he doesn’t know what it is to get love or to give love. There is a fundamental
lack of love in his life which completely messes him up.’
Jerzy Grotowski
The role comes with limited amounts of dialogue. ‘Body language also
speaks,’ Schoenaerts states. ‘Even without words, you can express a lot of
what is going on with yourself. That was a challenge but at a certain point, it
all came naturally. I had so much time to grow into this part... all of a sudden
you get into the zone.’
One of Schoenaerts’ inspirations was the celebrated Polish director and
acting theorist Jerzy Grotowski, who espoused the theory that ‘a certain
physical state involves a certain state of mind and emotional being’. In other
words, if you develop the outer side of the character first, then the inner life will
follow. This, Schoenaerts notes, is the antithesis of the Stanislavski approach,
in which you build the character from the ‘inside out’.
Taking on the role entailed Schoenaerts to make a big leap of faith in his
director. It helped that he had worked with Roskam before, on a short film.
The other key factor was the script. Schoenaerts realised that every last detail
had been worked exhaustively through by the writer-director.
Bullhead was a tough film to make. The schedule was short and the budget
was tight. ‘There were heavy days. It was a heavy schedule,’ the actor recalls.
‘But everybody was so well prepared and so eager. They had been waiting
for so long to get to this project. You could feel this great enthusiasm. It was
intense and heavy but we were really enjoying the hard work.’
Over the years in which he was preparing for the role, he slowly chiselled away
toward what he calls ‘the core of the character’.
acting background
Schoenaerts was heartened to discover how tenderly the farmers treated their
livestock. When it came to butchering them, though, there was no hesitation.
‘To them, it was just natural. They are not seeing it as killing. One moment,
they’re very sweet to an animal. The next, they cut its throat.’
Schoenaerts is now such a regular fixture in indigenous films that it comes as
a slight surprise to learn that acting wasn’t his first choice of career. The son
of celebrated Flemish stage and screen legend, Julien Schoenaerts, he grew
up in an acting background. His father led the typical ‘gypsy’ existence of the
actor, moving around from place to place with his family following in his wake.
‘I remember as a child I saw a play. The lights came on. People applauded
and then they left the theatre. I was still in there. When everybody left, I just
jumped on stage, grabbed the costumes and started repeating things I
remembered from the play I had just seen... somehow it must have touched
me deeply at that time.’
‘Even without words, you can express a lot of what
is going on with yourself. That was a challenge
but at a certain point, it all came naturally. I had so
much time to grow into this part... all of a sudden
you get into the zone.’
As a teenager, he had a part in the Oscar-nominated drama Daens (in which also
his father played). He did briefly think about acting as a career but when it came
to his student years, he veered off on another route. After high school, he studied
directing at film school for a year. Then, he took work as a technician at a theatre
in Antwerp, helping with the lights and props. Slowly, it suddenly dawned on him
that acting was his universe.
Paul Verhoeven
No, he hasn’t done much stage work but next year he will be working with
choreographer and director Jan Fabre on a monologue. Schoenaerts is part
of a new wave of Flemish talent led by directors like Tom Barman (with whom
he worked on Any Way The Wind Blows), Alex Stockman (for whom he made
Pulsar) and Dorothée van den Berghe (My Queen Karo). He credits Barman’s
movie as ‘a breath of fresh air for Flemish filmmaking with its own energy; funky,
personal and with a lot of feeling.’
International casting directors are beginning to offer him roles. He had a small
part in Paul Verhoeven’s Second World War drama Black Book, an experience
that he remembers with mixed feelings. He had been seriously ill with an
appendix problem that almost killed him just before shooting began and wasn’t
fully recovered by the time he set off for Holland for shooting. However, he
realised that Verhoeven was a kindred spirit. Like Schoenaerts, the celebrated
Dutch director isn’t somebody who accepts compromise. Once he takes on an
assignment, he goes all the way. When producers tell him he is over schedule
or budget, he makes sure that he shoots the least important scenes first. That
way, Verhoeven knows, that the producer will have to make time for the other
more important scenes.
Schoenaerts doesn’t need to resort to such ruses. What he does make clear,
though, is that he will commit himself 100% to any project he takes - and he
expects his collaborators to do the same. ‘It’s too much fun not to throw yourself
in,’ he reflects on his ferociously wholehearted approach.
My Queen Karo
- 2009
what’s next?
So what’s up next for Matthias Schoenaerts? First there’s The Loft in which he
shares major parts with James Marsden, Wentworth Miller and Eric Stonestreet.
The film is set for a US theatrical release in spring 2012.
Next stop is Jacques Audiard’s (A Prophet) Rust and Bone in which he stars
opposite Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillars (La vie en rose).
Interview first published in
#19, 2011
Left Bank - 2008
‘…a career-defining, powerfully physical lead perf
by Matthias Schoenaerts and ace lensing by local
widescreen wiz Nicolas Karakatsanis.’
Variety – Boyd van Hoeij
‘DP Nicolas Karakatsanis plays with chiaroscuro
lighting and stunning landscape photography when
not sticking close to the protagonist’s face, isolating
him all the more along with sound designer Benoît
De Clerc’s frequent audio fade-outs.’
The Hollywood Reporter – Natasha Senjanovic
‘This is a film especially for an audience that hates
waste; people who want every minute to count, for
each scene to mean something, and add to the
bigger picture.‘
Indiewire
‘At center of this startling feature debut is
Schoenaerts, whose astonishingly layered
performance as, and physical transformation
into, the hulking Jacky culminates into one of the
most searing portraits of a scarred male psyche in
modern cinema.’
The Hamptons Film Festival catalogue
‘Michaël R. Roskam’s feature debut finds a gem in
Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, who leads
a strong cast.’
The Hollywood Reporter – Natasha Senjanovic
‘It makes perfect sense that this is the film Belgium
has chosen to submit Bullhead for consideration to
the Academy Awards. This being Roskam’s feature
film debut is a bit of a revelation; another first time
director who has hit it out of the park.’
CriterionCast
Key Cast
MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS / JACKY VANMARSENILLE
Jacky Vanmarsenille is a 30-year-old loner who helps his uncle run the family meat manufacturing business
in a small town in Belgium. The family gets involved with illegal growth hormones for cattle. Jacky is an imposing
figure with extremely developed muscles. He projects violence and mystery. His muscles, and his unpredictable
behavior, are the result of testosterone and other drugs use but they also go back to a secret from his past.
A traumatizing experience as a child has affected his personality and made him a stranger to his own nature.
A chance meeting with his childhood friend Diederik brings back the past and sets in motion a series of events
from which there is no return.
MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS (1977) is the coming man of contemporary Flemish-Belgian cinema. After
graduating from the Conservatorium Toneel Dora Van der Groen school of acting in 2002, he has starred in
a number of award-winning shorts and feature movies.
Selected filmography
Rust and Bone (by Jacques Audiard, 2012)
The Loft (by Eric Van Looy, 2012)
The Gang of Oss (by André van Duren, 2011)
Bullhead (by Michaël R. Roskam, 2010)
Pulsar (by Alex Stockman, 2010)
La meute (by Franck Richard, 2010)
My Queen Karo (by Dorothée van den Berghe, 2009)
The Emperor of Taste (by Frank Van Passel & Jan Matthys, 2008, TV)
Loft (by Eric Van Looy, 2008)
Left Bank (by Pieter Van Hees, 2008)
Nadine (by Erik De Bruyn, 2007)
Black Book (by Paul Verhoeven, 2006)
Love Belongs to Everyone (by Hilde Van Mieghem, 2006)
Any Way the Wind Blows (by Tom Barman, 2003)
A Girl (by Dorothée van den Berghe, 2002)
Daens (by Stijn Coninx, 1992)
And many short films.
JEROEN PERCEVAL /
DIEDERIK MAES
JEANNE DANDOY /
LUCIA SCHEPERS
Diederik Maes was Jacky’s best friend when they were
kids. Like Jacky he is still tormented by the events from their
childhood. They lost touch after Diederik’s father was arrested
in an illegal hormones case and the Maes family moved away
to West Flanders. Diederik has grown up to be a small-time
criminal who is pressured into informing the police about the
activities of his boss, Marc de Kuyper. When Diederik and
Jacky meet again as part of an illegal hormones deal, Diederik
is given an unexpected chance to right a wrong from the past.
Lucia Schepers owns a perfume shop in Liège. Together
with her mother she takes care of her heavily handicapped
brother Bruno. Fate links Lucia inextricably to Jacky although
she doesn’t know it yet. If hormones define Jacky, then
pheromones define Lucia...
JEROEN PERCEVAL (1978) graduated from Belgium’s
renowned Studio Herman Teirlinck drama school in 2001.
He has since performed in many stage plays. In 2007 he
played a leading part in With Friends Like These,
Felix van Groeningen’s (The Misfortunates) second feature.
He currently works on a screenplay based on his own play,
D’Ardennen, a Savage Film production with
Michaël R. Roskam as executive producer.
JEANNE DANDOY (1974) grew up in a family of artists.
She wrote her first play at the age of 14.
At 17 she enrolled in the Liège conservatory where she studied
under Jacques Delcuvellerie and discovered the work of
Groupov. She has since performed in a large number of stage
productions. Lucia is her first role in a feature.
BARBARA SARAFIAN /
EVA FORRESTIER
SAM LOUWYCK /
MARC DE KUYPER
Eva Forrestier, the police inspector leading the investigation
into the death of her colleague Daems, is one tough cookie.
She can be cool and funny but she is clearly more interested
in the case than in the people she works with. She knows no
bounds in manipulating the naive Diederik into doing what she
wants.
Marc De Kuyper is a ruthless cattle trader who is at the heart
of the illegal growth hormones business. De Kuyper doesn’t
shy away from anything, including murder. When a business
proposition puts him on Sam and Jacky’s path, De Kuyper
makes a fatal mistake.
BARBARA SARAFIAN (1968) started her career at
the National Belgian Broadcasting Company, and made
a reputation as the funniest lady in Flanders with her
performances in various humorous radio and TV programs.
She made her international film debut in Peter Greenaway’s
8 1/2 Women (1999), and also played in Geoff Murphy’s
Fortress II (1999) and Roman Coppola’s CQ (2001).
Her portrayal of housewife Matty in Moscow, Belgium
(Christophe Van Rompaey, 2008) led to several
international awards.
SAM LOUWYCK (1966) is a dancer, actor, singer, musician
and choreographer. Since 1993 he has worked with
contemporary dance company Les Ballets C de la B and
has toured the world with them. He made a big impression
with his portrayal of Windman in Tom Barman’s Any Way the
Wind Blows. He went on to play the deaf guitar player in Koen
Mortier’s Ex-Drummer. In 2009 he played the lead in Lost
Persons Area, Caroline Strubbe’s debut movie. He also plays
the lead in Koen Mortier’s second feature 22nd of May .
Key crew
NICOLAS KARAKATSANIS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
RAF KEUNEN
COMPOSER
After taking directing courses at film school, Nicolas
Karakatsanis discovered his talent and passion as a
cinematographer. He has been shooting many short films,
music videos, documentaries, feature films and commercials.
He’s actually highly in demand as director of photography.
Raf Keunen studied philosophy and music composition and orchestration.
He has written music for several short films and documentaries.His classical
inspired music score for Bullhead was performed by the ‘Musiques Nouvelles’
ensemble. Already from the start of screenwriting Raf worked closely together
with Michaël R. Roskam to get the right tone and subtleties in the music in
order to underline the drama of the story and its visuality.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
The Loft (2011)
Bullhead (2011)
Lost Persons Area (2009)
Left Bank (2008)
Small Gods (2007)
Selected filmography
Skunk (2011, short film)
Siemiany (2009, short film)
Today’s Friday (2008, short film)
Gas Station (2006, documentary series - 2 episodes)
Vleugels (2006, TV film)
The One Thing To Do (2005, short film)
Carlo (2004, short film)
PRODUCER
Bart Van Langendonck launched Savage Film in 2007. The company is
associated to Eyeworks Belgium.
Always daring or playful, Savage Film’s projects often balance on the
boundaries of genres, be it fiction, documentary or art.
Directors Savage Film works with include Wim Vandekeybus, Frank Theys,
Bram Van Paesschen, Mike Figgis, Pascal Poissonnier, Patrice Toye, Vincent
Coen, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and many others.
FILMOGRAPHY
(as main producer unless indicated differently)
Bullhead: feature film by Michaël R. Roskam (2011)
Portable Life: feature film by Fleur Boonman (2011)
Empire of Dust: feature documentary by Bram Van Paesschen (2011)
No Comment: 60’ documentary by Pascal Poissonnier (2011)
27: 12’ short film by Nicolas Daenens (2011)
The Co(te)lette film: 57’dance film by Mike Figgis (2010)
Walking Back to Happiness: TV-hour documentary by Pascal Poissonnier (2010)
Crossover: 30’ dance/music/artfilm by Pierre Coulibeuf (2009) (coproducer)
Soeur sourire (aka The Singing Nun): 120’ feature film by Stijn Coninx starring
Cécile De France. (2009) (line-producer)
Lost in Transition: TV-hour documentary by Thom Vander Beken (2008)
Wild Beast: 58’ documentary by Jeroen Van der Stock (2008)
Nowhere Man: feature film by Patrice Toye (2008) (associate producer)
© Bart Dewaele
BART VAN LANGENDONCK
Today Is Friday: 12’ short film by Michaël R. Roskam (2007)
Here After: 60’ dance/fiction film by Wim Vandekeybus. (2007) (associate
producer)
Gas Station: 6 x 26’ documentary series directed by Luc Vrijdaghs (2006)
Blush: 52’ fictionized dance film based on a choreography by, and directed by,
Wim Vandekeybus. (2005 )
The One Thing to Do: 23’ short film by Michaël R. Roskam (2005)
Maria Dolores: 70’ feature film by Wayn Traub (2004)
Carlo: 19’ short film by Michaël R. Roskam (2004)
Fighting for Others, Dying for Poland: 52’ historical documentary by
Bart Verstockt (2002)
Smokescreen Covering Brussels: 35’ fictional documentary by
Bram Van Paesschen (2003)
Inasmuch: 15’ short film by Wim Vandekeybus (2000) (associate producer)
In Spite of Wishing and Wanting: 52’ dance-film by Wim Vandekeybus. Original
music by David Byrne. (2003)
co-PRODUCERs
EYEWORKS (Belgium)
Eyeworks Belgium (formerly known as MMG) is part of the
International Eyeworks Group and is an active player in the
production of drama series and films for the (inter)national
marketplace. The company is headed by
Peter Bouckaert and veteran producer Erwin Provoost.
Five of the ten top grossing Flemish movies of all time have
been produced by Eyeworks or one of its subsidiaries.
Additionally, Eyeworks partnered on various international
co-productions.
ARTEMIS PRODUCTION (Belgium)
Since its creation in 1992 by Patrick Quinet, Artémis
Productions has produced many short films and documentaries,
15 Belgian feature films and has additionally co-produced 41
foreign feature films and 8 TV films.
WATERLAND FILM (The Netherlands)
Waterland Film was created in 1994 by Jan van der Zanden en
Wilant Boekelman. They always aim at telling captivating stories
that deal with relevant themes of our society while exploring
cinematographic bounderies.
CREDITS
Original title: Rundskop
Director: Michaël R. Roskam
Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval, Barbara Sarafian, Jeanne Dandoy,
Tibo Vandenborre, Sam Louwyck
Original screenplay: Michaël R. Roskam
Photography: Nicolas Karakatsanis
Editing: Alain Dessauvage
Sound: Benoit De Clerck
Music: Raf Keunen
FORMAT
Original version: Dutch, French
Running time: 126’
Format: 35mm, 2.35 (scope), Dolby Digital, Colour
Year of production: 2011
PRODUCTION
Production company: Savage Film
Flemish producer: Bart Van Langendonck
Co-producer: Peter Bouckaert (Eyeworks), Patrick Quinet (Artémis Productions),
Jan Van der Zanden (Waterland Film)
Supported by: Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Bruxellimage, CCA, NFF, MEDIA
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
SELECTIONS
Berlinale Panorama (February 2011)
Festival du Film Policier de Beaune, France (March 2011)
International Film Festival Breda, The Netherlands (March 2011)
International Film Festival Made in Europe, The Netherlands (April 2011)
Transilvania International Film Festival, Romania (June 2011)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 2011)
Jerusalem International Film Festival (July 2011)
Puchon PIFAN International Film Festival (July 2011)
Fantasia International Film Festival Montréal (July 2011)
Melbourne International Film Festival (July 2011)
Motovun International Film Festival, Croatia (July 2011)
Two Riversides International Film Festival, Poland (July 2011)
L’Etrange Festival, Paris (September 2011)
International Film Festival Ostend, Belgium (September 2011)
Athens International Film Festival (September 2011)
Helsinki Love & Anarchy (September 2011)
Austin Fantastic (September 2011)
Vancouver International Film Festival (September 2011)
Chicago Film Festival (October 2011)
Hawai International Film Festival (October 2011)
The Hamptons International Film Festival (October 2011)
International Film Festival Sitges (October 2011)
Festival des jeunes réalisateurs, St. Jean de la Luz, France (October 2011)
Katowice Regiofun, Poland (October 2011)
Moscow ‘2 in 1’ International Film Festival (October 2011)
Kiev Molodist International Film Festival (October 2011)
Mostra Sao Paulo (October 2011)
Doha Tribeca Festival (October 2011)
AFI Fest L.A. (November 2011)
Taipei Golden Horse International Film Festival (November 2011)
Minsk International Film Festival (November 2011)
Stockholm International Film Festival (November 2011)
Osaka European Film Festival (November 2011)
Goa International Film Festival (November 2011)
European Film Awards Berlin (December 2011)
Palm Springs International Film Festival (January 2012)
AWARDS
Jury Prize and Critics Prize - Festival du Film Policier de Beaune
(March 2011 I ex-acquo with 2011 Oscar-nominee Animal Kingdom)
‘New Flesh Award’ for Best First Feature - Fantasia International Film
Festival Montréal (July 2011)
‘Propeller Award’ for Best Film - Motovun International Film Festival,
Croatia (July 2011)
‘New Genre’ award for Best Film - L’Etrange Festival, Paris (Sept 2011)
Six ‘Flanders Film Awards’: Best film, Best Director, Best Debut,
Best Actor, Best Supporting Role, Best Photography International Film Festival Ostend, Belgium (September 2011)
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (M.Schoenaerts) - AMD & Dell
‘next wave’ spotlight competition Fantastic Fest, Austin (September 2011)
‘Heroes Award’ for Matthias Schoenaerts’ standout performance Moscow ‘2 in 1’ International Film Festival (October 2011)
CONTACT
INFO
SALES
PROMOTION
Savage Film
Bart Van Langendonck
De Ribaucourtstraat 139 0/D
BE 1080 Brussels
Belgium/EU
Cell +32 476 55 11 53
[email protected]
www.savagefilm.be
Celluloid Dreams
2 rue Turgot
FR 75009 Paris
France/EU
T +33 1 49 70 03 70
F +33 1 49 70 03 71
[email protected]
www.celluloid-dreams.com
Flanders Image
Christian De Schutter
Bischoffsheimlaan 38
BE 1000 Brussels
Belgium/EU
T +32 2 226 06 30
F +32 2 219 19 36
[email protected]
www.flandersimage.com
US DISTRIBUTOR
US Agent Michaël R. Roskam
Drafthouse Films
(in partnership with Image Entertainment)
Evan Husney
Drafthouse Films
Cell +1 347 461 6647
[email protected]
www.drafthousefilms.com
United Talent Agency
Ramses Ishak and Michael Sheresky
Literary and Talent Representation
9560 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills
CA 90212, USA
T +1 310 273 6700
F +1 310 247 1111
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www.bullheadthefilm.com