The Brand New Testament
Belgium, France, Luxembourg / Fiction / 112' / HD / Color / 2015
God exists and He lives in Brussels. He’s a real obnoxious man, odious with his wife and daughter. We know very little about his innocent daughter. Her name is Ea and she’s 10 years old. One day, running out of patience, she leaks to the entire world their inevitable date of death by SMS–His most fiercely guarded secret. Later, she runs away from home to find six new (very unlikely) apostles. The first film of Belgian film director, screenwriter and playwright Jaco Van Dormael since 2009’s hugely successful Mr. Nobody, this surrealistic comedy was screened at the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes. Brand New Testament was declared as the Belgian entry at the Foreign Language Oscars.
Director: Jaco Van Dormael
Script: Jaco Van Dormael, Thomas Gunzig
Director of Photography: Christophe Beaucarne
Producer: Jaco van Dormael, Olivier Rausin, Daniel Marquet
Editing: Hervé De Luze
Sound: Dominique Warnier, François Dumont, Michel Schillings
Musician: An Pierlé
Cast: Benoît Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve, François Damiens, Yolande Moreau, Laura Verlinden, Serge Larivière, Pili Groyne
CV
Jaco Van Dormael was born on February 9, 1957 in Belgium. Van Dormael studied filmmaking at the INSAS in Brussels, where he wrote and directed his first short film, Maedeli la brèche (1981), which received the Honorary Foreign Film Award at the Student Academy Awards. Van Dormael's feature debut, Toto le héros (1991), won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Five years later, Le huitième jour (1996) played at Cannes, where his two leading actors, Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne, were jointly awarded the prize for Best Actor. His third feature film, Mr. Nobody (2009), won six Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director.
Filmography
2015 The Brand New Testament
2011 Kiss & Cry
2010 Eole (Kısa / Short)
2009 Mr. Nobody
2006 La ceinture (Kısa / Short)
1995 Lumière and company (Belgesel / Documentary)
1991 Toto le héros
1985 De boot (Kısa / Short)
1985 È pericoloso sporgersi (Kısa / Short)
1983 Sortie de secours (Belgesel / Documentary)
1982 L'imitateur (Belgesel / Documentary)
1981 Stade 81 (Belgesel / Documentary)
1980 Maedeli la brèche (Kısa / Short)
Festivals Attended
Cannes Film Festival - Directors’ Fortnight, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival
Awards
2015 Biografilm (Bolonya) Avrupa İzleyici Ödülü
2015 Haugesund İzleyici Ödülü, Neşe Ödülü
2015 Avrupa Film Akademisi Yapım Tasarım Ödülü