MOSCOW, BELGIUM

Moscow, or ‘Moscou’ in Flemish, is a densely populated working class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Ghent, Belgium. Matty (41), mother of three, bumps her car into a truck on the parking lot of a supermarket. Johnny (29) climbs down from the cabin. He is infuriated by the dent in his front bumper and yells at Matty. Although impressed by the accident, Matty fi ghts back with sharp words. Their discussion turns into a row, and the police have to intervene. Back in her apartment, Matty takes a hot bath to recover from the afternoon’s emotions when the phone rings. It’s Johnny, apologizing for his behaviour on the parking lot. Matty tells him to stay out of her life. A few days later, Johnny rings the doorbell. He fixes the dent in romantic comedy about a woman whose life is full of dents and bruises. Moscow, Belgium is a romantic comedy about a woman whose life is full of dents and bruises.

Moscow, Belgium is Christophe van Rompaey’s debut as a feature film director. While still at film school, Christophe (1970) directed two shorts (Zap and Façade) and wrote two more. After his studies, he became casting director and assistant director on many shorts, commercials and features. In 1998, Christophe established himself as a first assistant director with the feature Man van Staal (directed by Vincent Bal), a credit he was to have on seven more features produced in Belgium and in the Netherlands. Christophe continued to work on his own stories. He wrote and directed three dark and mysterious shorts: Grijs (1995), Ex.#N°1870-4 (1999) and Oh my God?! (2001) which were visually riveting and won awards at various festivals. Christophe went on to direct twelve episodes of the popular relationship series Team Spirit (2002). Moscow, Belgium won Grand Golden Rail and Acid Award at the Cannes Festival Film 2008.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA