29/07/2019 - Today sees Olivier Pairoux begin the shoot for his feature debut, a family adventure flick starring Basile Grunberger, Albane Masson and Yannick Renier

Today sees the start of the six-week shoot for SpaceBoy [+see also:
film review
interview: Olivier Pairoux
film profile], the feature debut by director Olivier Pairoux (whom we have to thank for the Philippe Katerine-starring short film Puzzle), which he co-wrote with Eusebio Larrea. SpaceBoy is a family adventure film, a fairly unusual proposition in French-language Belgian cinema, and it draws its inspiration from the US films of this genre that the director was brought up on as a child, such as The Goonies, E.T. and Stand by Me.

This movie tinged with nostalgia unfolds in 1986, a time when space exploration was in full swing. An exceptionally gifted dreamer, 11-year-old Jim, lives with his father, Graham, who is destined to become the first British scientist to go into space. But when Jim finds out that his dad has been lying to him and has aborted his mission, the little boy’s bearings are thrown into disarray.

At his new school, he takes full advantage of a competition for young scientists to secretly build a hot-air balloon, inspired by the feat of his idol, Joseph Kittinger. Besides the dangerous nature of the project, the fierce rivalry between those taking part in the competition and his own obsessions, Jim clashes with his father in order to prove to him that he was wrong to give up.

Luckily, Jim is able to count on Emma, a new classmate of his. Together, despite their polar-opposite personalities, they rise to a challenge that is crazy and exciting in equal measure, and which will gradually bring them closer together…

The cast is toplined by the two very young actors Basile Grunberger, who gave a heartrending performance last year in Our Struggles [+see also:
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interview: Guillaume Senez
film profile] by Guillaume Senez, and Albane Masson, who graced screens in Remi, Nobody’s Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Boule & Bill 2. They will be feeding lines to Belgian actor and filmmaker Yannick Renier (The White Knights [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Lafosse
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film profile], Step by Step [+see also:
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film profile]), Bérénice Baoo (Above the Law [+see also:
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interview: François Troukens
film profile], Fauves [+see also:
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film profile]) and Jean-Benoît Ugeux (soon to be on the cinema listings in Patrick [+see also:
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interview: GoCritic! Interview: Tim Mi…
interview: Tim Mielants
film profile] by Tim Mielants, Magritte Award for Best Supporting Actor for Racer and the Jailbird [+see also:
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interview: Michael Roskam
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SpaceBoy is being produced by Annabella Nezri, who has just wrapped the shoot for Losers Revolution (see the news), for Kwassa Films, in co-production with RTL Belgium (which is also due to oversee the distribution in Belgium).

(Translated from French)