Over the past 13 years De Wereldvrede has built up a portfolio split equally between author-driven feature films and high-end TV series, many directed by ambitious newcomers. “We believe in giving them a warm, safe environment to work in,” says actor, screenwriter and producer Gilles De Schryver.
De Wereldvrede’s feature films include Cargo by Gilles Coulier, Holy Rosita by Wannes Destoop and Julie Keeps Quiet by Leonardo van Dijl, which was presented at the 2024 Critics’ Week in Cannes. Its series include Roomies, now beginning its second season, and Albatros, winner of the Prix Europa for best European TV fiction series in 2021.
Holy Rosita
As well as favouring first-time directors, De Wereldvrede likes to support creative partnerships, such as director Wannes Destoop and cinematographer Dries Delputte, who worked together on both Holy Rosita and Albatros.
In selecting directors for our slate we aim for people with a unique vision, but also a unique network of people they like to work with. And the same goes for international co-productions, where we like each production to have a specific network of talent and artists who match completely with the project.
Holy Rosita tells the story of a young woman who desperately wants to have children, but the people around her, who she loves very much, think this is a bad idea. She can barely take care of herself. So, when she does become pregnant, she decides to keep it a secret.
Supported by Screen Flanders and the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), the film had its world premiere at the Torino Film Festival, where it won the prize for best film. Meanwhile, Albatros follows ten obese men and women attending a slimming camp in the Ardennes, in the hope that losing weight will improve their lives.
War of the Worlds
De Wereldvrede’s biggest international co-production to date is the first season of War of the Worlds, a modern re-telling of HG Wells’ classic alien invasion story starring Gabriel Byrne, Elizabeth McGovern and Léa Drucker. The series was executive produced by Urban Myth Films in the UK for Canal Plus and Fox Europe and Africa. While minority co-producers, De Wereldvrede was able to bring significant resources to the project. "We sourced 10 per cent of the budget through the Belgian tax shelter and economic funds, and provided the lead director, the DoP and the first assistant, so that’s really the core team", producer Gilles De Schryver explains.
Upcoming series projects from the company include Beats of Love, about a boy band in the 1990s, the psychological thriller Recidivism, and King of Hearts, about the young Belgian King Baudouin. Meanwhile, it is also producing the feature film Jonah Was Here, directed by Nathalie Teirlinck.
Co-producing with De Wereldvrede
De Wereldvrede is looking for stories that have a strong impact and that resonate deeply with a broad audience. “They can be challenging, but they also have to be accessible,” says De Schryver. “We also think it is important that our directors know what stories they want to tell and how to they should be told.”
For international co-productions, size matters. “We always aim for big international co-productions, not only because that brings in the necessary funding to tell the stories in the way we want to tell them, but also because in the process we expose these stories to other points of view. Filmmaking is a team effort, and stories become richer when you broaden the people involved.”
