The Rise Of Belgian Director Felix Van Groeningen

Ghent-born filmmaker Felix van Groeningen has directed five features that have left their mark on recent Belgian cinema. With one critically acclaimed success building upon another, van Groeningen now finds himself at the top of the country’s film scene at a relatively young age.
Van Groeningen made his feature debut with Steve + Sky (2004), the story of a romance between a drug dealer and a prostitute. It remains his most divisive work: what some critics championed as the kind of visually poetic film seldom seen in Belgium, others dismissed as a clichéd attempt at art house cinema lacking in character depth and plot development.

Van Groeningen’s next film, the 2007 Dagen zonder lief (With Friends Like These), hushed those initial naysayers. The story of a struggling group of twentysomethings whose lives get thrown into limbo when their friend Black Haired Kelly returns from New York made a lasting impression, as van Groeningen captured the melancholy state of the quarter-life crisis before it was fashionable to do so.

For this second feature, the director dialed down the experimental touches of his rock and roll debut. With Friends Like These shirks all pretense and follows a straight shooting script – without losing its punch. To even further the accessibility, van Groeningen has his actors talk like the average Flemish person on the street, as opposed to the dreadfully stylized “General Dutch” prevalent on screen dialogue at the time.

Van Groeningen depicts these schlubs stuck in the margins of society with an alternately comedic and tragic hand. We laugh at the naked drunken bike rides (an immortal image of Belgian cinema by now), look down on the pathetic father figure unable to encourage his son’s aspirations, yet sympathize with his troubles all the same. The Unfortunates won the Prix Art et Essai at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, signaling even more international attention to come.

Everyday people struck down by the hardships of life are again at the center of van Groeningen’s biggest film to date: The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012). Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the gut-wrenching tale of the grief of Elise and Didier, a bohemian couple that loses their daughter to cancer, was met with international praise and box office success. Van Groeningen’s unique way of emanating both the miseries and beauty of real life through the screen incites awe.

The use and choice of music, mainly performed by the actors themselves, had a big part in the film’s impact and that lesson seems to have stayed with van Groeningen. His latest film, Belgica (2016), which features hedonistic tunes by the Belgian electronic band Soulwax, was well-received at Sundance.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.