European Film Promotion and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival are thrilled to announce that the acclaimed Belgian director Felix van Groeningen – fresh from receiving the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic for his new feature film “Belgica” at the Sundance Film Festival – is pleased to be this year’s mentor for the young filmmakers taking part in FUTURE FRAMES at the KVIFF from July 4 – 5. The director will share his wide-ranging experience in film-making – including a masterclass on occasion of the KVIFF premiere of “Belgica”. His exceptional commitment is part of an intensive programme introducing the emerging professionals to the media and the film industry and presenting their work to the festival audience. The EFP initiative is supported by the Creative Europe – Media Programme of the European Union and the respective EFP member organisations.

About the director:

Born in 1977, Felix van Groeningen studied Visual Arts at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schöne Kunsten (KASK) in Ghent, Belgium. Following his master‘s degree in 2000 he started working for the stage as well as a director and an actor. His passion for the cinema made him return to directing films, and he has realized five feature films with his producer Dirk Impens since 2007. His second feature “The Misfortunates“ (2009) was selected for the Quinzaine des réalisateurs at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, but it was the following film, “The Broken Circle Breakdown“ (2012), which brought him international recognition. The musical drama received an Oscar Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, among many other awards, and was released worldwide. His latest film, „Belgica“ (2016), premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival.