15/06/2015 - The producer of The Brand New Testament unveils his film in Italy where it will be released in October with the Italian title Dio esiste e vive a Bruxelles

"The Brand New Testament [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Jaco van Dormael
film profile] by Jaco Van Dormael has been sold in 50 countries, practically all over the world with the exception of some Asian countries”. Daniel Marquet, the co-producer with David Grumbach and the director, is optimistic about the future of the film sold by Le Pacte, after its triumph at the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival held in May. 

Marquet, along with the entire cast, is attending the Biografilm Festival in Bologna, where the film had its second global screening on Friday night. "The film was highly acclaimed at Cannes and we had so many people wanting to see it that there wasn’t enough space in the theatre. I hope the film has a long run, making it was a very rewarding experience", said the producer, who had already worked with Van Dormael on Mr. Nobody [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaco Van Dormael
interview: Jaco Van Dormael
film profile] back in 2009. So he didn’t have a problem with making a film in which God is a wrathful lout in sandals who lives in Brussels? "No, out of the five thousand people who saw the film, no one thought it was blasphemous, everyone picked up on the poetry and irony employed by Jaco”, Marquet told us. 

In the film by the Belgian director – who connected with the audience at the festival via Skype – everyone is made aware of the date they will die and must decide what to do with their lives. “Van Dormael makes his audience reflect on a deep-rooted feeling, the desire for immortality, something which we think about even when we’re in the shower. It takes great talent to broach this subject by making us laugh and moving us”, concludes Marquet. 

Jaco Van Dormael’s film will be distributed in Italy in the autumn by Andrea Romeo’s production company I Wonder Pictures with the title Dio esiste e vive a Bruxelles (lit. God exists and lives in Brussels).

(Translated from Italian)