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RELEASES Belgium

Hasta la Vista! takes audiences on road trip to Spain

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Geoffrey Enthoven’s fifth feature, Hasta la Vista! [+see also:
trailer
interview: Geoffrey Enthoven
film profile
]
, is back in the headlines after winning the Grand Prize of the Americas at Montreal three weeks ago, as it is being released today in Belgium.

Enthoven intends to whisk audiences on board his wheelchair-bound road movie, which centres on three friends who are very different but united by their disability. They come up with the rather crazy plan of going to lose their burdensome virginity in a specialised brothel. Leaving behind grey Belgium to warm themselves under the Spanish sun.

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Hiding part of their plans from their parents, they take to the road accompanied by a mysterious nurse. As in all good road movies, it’s not so much the destination as the journey itself which counts. As the kilometres slip by, there are new experiences, revelations, heart-led and impulsive actions.

Hasta la Vista! is inspired by the true story of young Englishman Asta Philpot, who also acted as a consultant on the film. Here we find a similar device to the one used in The Over the Hill Band [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, in which a trio of grannies plagued by the spectre of Alzheimer’s disease decide to set up a R&B band: a serious subject handled with a smile.

Produced by Mariano Vanhoof for Fobic Films (company co-founded with Enthoven in 2001), Hasta la Vista! received backing from the VAF. The film is distributed by Kinepolis, which is releasing it in 28 theatres, but not one in Wallonia. This is usual for a Flemish film, admittedly, but it is once again surprising given that the film, which also received the Audience Award at Montreal, will be released in Canada at the end of the month.

Films based on true stories take pride of place in Belgian theatres, for today also sees the release of Roschdy Zem’s Omar Killed Me [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, inspired by the story of Omar Raddad, and Vincent Garenq’s Guilty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vincent Garenq
film profile
]
, based on the Outreau case. As for Yann Samuell’s War of the Buttons [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, also hitting screens today, perhaps one day it will inspire a film about two producers locked in a ruthless battle as they release films about the same subject one week apart.

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(Translated from French)

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