28/08/2017 - This is the second time that the Flemish director and his pet actor Matthias Schoenaerts will represent Belgium in the race for the Oscars, after being one of the five finalists in 2011 with Bullhead

Racer and the Jailbird [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Roskam
film profile] is the second feature that Michaël Roskam has made with his favourite actor, the much sought-after Matthias Schoenaerts, in Belgium – and it also happens to be their second movie shortlisted in the race for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film. Previously, in 2011, the Flemish director created a sensation with his debut feature, Bullhead [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bart Van Langendonck
interview: Michaël R. Roskam
film profile], which was unveiled at Berlin and officially represented Belgium at the Oscars. The team even got the rare opportunity to make the journey to Hollywood, as the film ended up being one of the five finalists – as was Felix Van Groeningen’s The Broken Circle Breakdown [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen
interview: Felix Van Groeningen
interview: Felix Van Groeningen
film profile], another Flemish movie, not so long ago. 

This ultra-modern film noir stars Matthias Schoenaerts (the aforementioned Bullhead, Rust & Bone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile], Far from the Madding Crowd [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile], Suite Française [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile]) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (winner of the Palme d’Or for Blue Is the Warmest Colour [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Abdellatif Kechiche
film profile]) as the romantic heroes of a passionate love story set against the backdrop of organised crime in Belgium. 

Roskam wrote the film together with Thomas Bidegain (who penned the screenplays for Dheepan [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Jacques Audiard
film profile], Rust & Bone, Cowboys [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Loving Without Reason [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile]) and Noé Debré (Dheepan). The DoP is Nicolas Karakatsanis, the editing was entrusted to Alain Dessauvage, and the score was composed by Raf Keunen – in other words, the same creative team that was behind Bullhead.

Racer and the Jailbird will be presented in early September as a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival before unspooling in competition at Toronto.

This is also the third time that Bart Van Langendonck (of Savage Film), the film’s producer, has been picked to represent Belgium at the Oscars, as he was previously selected for Bullhead as well as for The Ardennes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Robin Pront
film profile] by Robin Pront last year.

Racer and the Jailbird was co-produced by Stone Angels (France), Eyeworks (Flanders), Frakas Productions (Wallonia), and Kaap Holland Film BV and Submarine for the Netherlands. The movie pulled off a real funding grand slam in Belgium, having secured backing from RTBF, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, the CCA, Screen Flanders, screen.brussels and Wallimage.

(Translated from French)