22nd of may
DESCRIPTION
22nd of May depicts the various victims of a suicide bombing. Sam (played by Sam Louwyck), a rather dreary-looking 40 year old, works as a security guard at a shopping mall. His life is plunged into turmoil the day a young man carrying a backpack blows himself up in the mall. Fear, frustration and guilt are the central themes of this story.TRANSCRIPT
w w w . f l a n d e r s i m a g e . c o m
CREDITSOriginal title: 22nd Of MayDirector: Koen MortierOriginal screenplay: Koen MortierCast: Sam Louwyck, Titus De Voogdt, Barbara Callewaert, Jan Hammenecker, Wim Willaert, Norman Baert, Steffi PeetersPhotography: Glynn SpeeckaertEditing: Nico LeunenSound: Lars GinzelMusic: Michael Gallagher
ww
w.m
ia.b
econtact: Flanders Image, Bischoffsheimlaan 38, BE-1000 Brussels - BelgiumT +32 2 226 06 30 - F +32 2 219 19 36 - E [email protected] image is a division of the flanders audiovisual fund (Vaf)
FORMATOriginal version: DutchRunning time: 88’Format: 35mm, 1:1.85, Dolby Digital, ColourYear of production: 2010
PRODUCTIONFlemish Production company: EpidemicFlemish producer: Eurydice GyselCo-producers: Eric Van Zuylen, Marc Bary, Raymond van der Kaaij, Rebekka Garrido Co-production companies: Ryva (BE), Ijswater Films (NL), Revolver (NL), The Post Republic (D)Supported by: Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), CFWB, NFF, RFF, Tax Shelter, Canvas
INFO & SALESEpidemicEurydice GyselKoolmijnenkaai 34BE-1080 BrusselsBelgiumT +32 2 413 17 80F +32 2 413 17 81M +32 497 42 07 [email protected]
www.epidemic.be
media/Press materials: www.presskit.be
w w w . f l a n d e r s i m a g e . c o m
22ND OF MAYEPIDEMIC presents
a film by Koen Mortier
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION COMPANY
Epidemic is a Brussels based company that produces and co-produces art-house features such as 22nd of May (2010), Ex Drummer (2007 - more than 20 festival selections and 4 awards) and Small Gods (2007-20 festival selections and three awards) as well as high quality short films and documentaries. Its goal is to create a platform for defiant directors and to export Belgian talent. The company was set up in October 2008 as a division of CCCP. The company is managed by Eurydice Gysel (producer) and Koen Mortier (producer/director). Epidemic is a member of the ACE Network.
22ND OF MAY
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Koen Mortier’s first short, Ana Temnei (1996) won a Gold Award at the 1997 Worldfest in Houston, among other honours. His second, A Hard Day’s Work, was selected for well over 30 festivals worldwide, and went on to win awards at a number of film events, including Brussels, Sarajevo and St Petersburg. In 1998, Mortier launched production outfit Czar.be as a subsidiary of Amsterdam-based Czar.nl. In the meantime, he has made numerous commercials for Czar, not only as Koen Mortier, but also under the name ‘Lionel Goldstein’, which he uses for commercials he directs together with Joe Vanhoutteghem. The commercials won several key national and international awards, including best director at the British Television Advertising Awards and three Golden Lions in Cannes in 2002, 2003 and 2005. In September 2002, Czar.be launched CCCP, a production company focusing on feature films and documentaries. This allowed him to raise funding for the production of his first feature film, Ex Drummer (2006). 22nd of May is his second feature.
Sam works as a security agent in a shopping mall. On a normal day, a bomb explodes. Sam tries to save the victims, until something terrible happens. He runs off till he falls down from exhaustion. A woman’s voice makes him raise his head. She’s one of the victims he saved. She wants to know why the suicide bomber did it. Thereafter he runs into everyone he saved and feels that their defeat shows many parallels with his own. Even the confrontation with the wrongdoer isn’t that straightforward as he thought it would be. He finds out that guilt and innocence can be pretty much alike.