Screen Flanders invests almost $3.4m in toons, docs, feature films and dramas

Little Heroes is based on Spanish book series Mis pequeños héroes

Audiovisual fund Screen Flanders is investing almost €3m (US$3.4m) in 15 series and films during its second funding call of 2025, after receiving an additional €1.4m from the Flemish government.

The extra funds will allow Screen Flanders to support eight more projects than initially anticipated.

The support awarded in the second call of 2025 varies between €50,000 and €400,000 per project and, according to Screen Flanders, will generate more than €24.7m in eligible audiovisual expenditure in the Flanders region.

The supported projects comprise seven series and eight feature films, across animation, drama and documentaries. Eight of the projects are majority Flemish, six are minority Flemish and one is minority Belgian.

The animated projects are series Little Heroes and feature film Look Who’s Visiting Tummy Tom!, the latter which is the third film in the Tummy Tom franchise and is based on the picture books by Jet Boeke.

Little Heroes is based on Spanish book series Mis pequeños héroes, which introduces kids to important historical figures such as Nelson Mandela, Frida Kahlo and Jane Goodall. Fabrique Fantastique is producing in coproduction with Spain’s Peekaboo Animation, Flemish broadcaster VRT/Ketnet and Spanish broadcaster RTVE-Clan.

The documentary project is a sequel to nature series Wild Belgium and comprises a five-part docuseries and a feature film for VRT. Hotel Bonka and Onze Natuur produce.

In drama, five series are receiving investment. Charlatan is coproduced by Sputnik TV, Horizon Film, Studiocanal, Streamz and Play, and is based on the man and myth of controversial Belgian economist Jean-Pierre Van Rossem. The series has already been sold to Canal+ in the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

Omerta is a psychological thriller from prodco Dingie (High Tides) and was written by a team of female screenwriters. The series will premiere on Streamz.

Hunters comes from Caviar, Los Morros and Versus in coproduction with VRT and Belgium’s RTBF. It is based on the 2021 book Terroristenjager – In het hart van de Speciale eenheden (Terrorist Hunter – In the Heart of the Special Forces) by Lionel D and Annemie Bulté and covers the 440 days between the terrorist attack on the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 and the Brussels bombings in 2016.

Red Light Empire is a Dutch series based on the life of entrepreneur Zwarte Joop, a prominent figure in Amsterdam’s red light district. Lemming Film Belgium is the coproducer from Flanders.

Lastly in drama series, The French Battle is a politically and historically incorrect Dutch comedy series set in the so-called wig era, about four fake aristocratic and sexually frustrated ladies. The series will be shown on NPO1/AVROTROS and NPO Plus. A Private View Media is coproducing the series for Flanders.

The seven feature films, meanwhile, are Auwch – The Movie, Gorgius, Paradise, Miss Good Stuff, Morgen Mehr, Two for Christmas and Lords of War, a British-Belgian copro and sequel to 2005 crime film Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage. Cage will star in the sequel alongside Bill Skarsgard.

In total for 2025 across the two calls, Screen Flanders will have invested €4.95m in 22 projects, comprising 11 series and 11 feature films.