Eldorado
Dark, absurd, provocative, biting, anarchic: these are just some of the terms that best define the unique brand of humour that has flourished in Belgian cinema, especially in Wallonia, over the last few decades. While Belgian comedy has many facets, ranging from ferocity to self-deprecation, it always has a knack for pressing where it hurts while daring to laugh about it, painting hard-hitting social portraits, and putting our laborious lives into perspective.
Winner of three awards, including the FIPRESCI Prize, at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Yvan, a used car salesman, catches Elie, a young drug addict, stealing from his house. Rather than turn him in, he befriends him and agrees to take him to his parents' home, far away. Their road trip is marked by many unusual encounters.
Bouli Lanners
Philippe Lanners, known as Bouli Lanners, is a French-speaking Belgian actor, screenwriter, director, and filmmaker. His first feature film, Ultranova (2005), won an award at the Berlinale. In the summer of 2007, he shot his second feature film, Eldorado, which was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes in 2008, where it won the Regards Jeunes Prize, the Europa Cinemas Label Award for Best European Film, and the FIPRESCI Prize. The following year, the film was nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film. His third feature film, The Giants (Les géants), also won two awards at the Directors' Fortnight in 2011. His fourth feature, The First, the Last (Les premiers, les derniers), was selected for the Panorama section at the Berlinale in 2016 and won two awards. In 2019, he wrote and directed Nobody Has to Know (L'ombre d'un mensonge), his fifth feature, which was shot in Scotland on the Isle of Lewis and starred Michelle Fairley in the lead role. He co-directed the film with Tim Mielants, and it was officially selected at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Alongside his filmmaking career, Lanners continues to paint and teaches at the National Higher Institute of Performing Arts and Broadcasting Techniques in Brussels.
