Two from Flanders selected for Directors Fortnight

Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels’ mid-length stop-motion animation film This Magnificent Cake! and Juanita Onzaga’s short documentary Our Song to War have been selected for the Directors Fortnight in Cannes (9-19 May).

 

This Magnificent Cake! is an anthology film set in colonial Africa in the late 19th-century, telling the stories of five different characters: a troubled king; a middle-aged pygmy working in a luxury hotel; a failed businessman on an expedition; a lost porter; and a young army deserter. It is directed by the multiple award-winning creators of Oh Willy, Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels, and produced by Beast Animation (A Town Called Panic, Dimitri).



Colombian-Belgian filmmaker Juanita Onzaga has also been invited to the Directors Fortnight with Our Song to War, a short hybrid documentary about the Colombian Bojaya region, where villagers have strange beliefs and celebrate the Novenario death ritual. Our Song to War is produced by RANA Films in co-production with De chinezen.



Created by the French Directors Guild in the wake of the events of May 68, the Directors Fortnight seeks to aid filmmakers and contribute to their discovery by the critics and audiences alike. The 50th edition will take place from 9-19 May, parallel to the main Competition. The last film from Flanders to be selected for the Directors Fortnight was Gust Van den Berghe’s Blue Bird in 2011.