27/03/2024 - The Flemish director has cast Peter Van den Begin, Kristien De Proost, Josse De Pauw and Frank Lammers in this, her first fiction feature

l-r: Peter Van den Begin, Kristien De Proost, Josse De Pauw and Frank Lammers on the set of Le Dimanche Neuf (© Kris Dewitte/Panenka)

Known for her documentaries as well as her TV work, director Kat Steppe has just kicked off filming on her first fiction feature-length movie, Le Dimanche neuf, a tragicomedy following 64-year-old Horst who suffers from Alzheimer’s and has had enough of life in the retirement home where he currently resides. One day, he finds himself face to face with the person responsible for his wasted life: his brother Franz. They haven’t seen one another or spoken for 30 years. Franz is looking to settle a few scores before night-time falls definitively on Horst’s life, while Andrea, the 54-year-old love of Horst’s younger life, tries to make up for lost time. Over the course of their visits, the trio relive their love triangle, proving just how deep the two brothers’ rivalry runs.

“Le Dimanche Neuf is an appeal for empathy for people whose lives no longer follow logical patterns,” explains Kat Steppe. “It’s a story about regrets, guilt and penitence; about love and a failing memory which has erased this love; about lost time, which Alzheimer’s disease makes it impossible to catch up on. The film examines the idea that we are what we are as a result of our past and our ability to remember this past. It also looks at how we often modify the past in our minds: we make it more attractive, or worse than it was. There are just as many versions of given events as there are people who witnessed them”.

The director behind the TV programme Taboe, which sees a comedian wondering if it’s possible to laugh about everything, is tackling a sensitive subject here, whilst also ensuring its accessibility to viewers and trying to strike a subtle balance between tension and humour. Inspired by her own documentary-making experience, Steppe chose to shoot the film in a real nursing home in Antwerp which cares for residents with Alzheimer’s. Some of them even appear in the film, alongside a cast led by Peter Van den Begin (the unforgettable King of the Belgians in the film of the same name, King of the Belgians [+see also:
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Le Dimanche Neuf is produced by Panenka, who also recently produced the hit series Two Summers and Over Water - both of which were broadcast in Flanders as well as on Netflix - and who are now trying their arm at film production. The movie is co-produced in Holland by Isabella Films and enjoys support from the Flanders Audiovisuel Fund (VAF), Creative Europe, Eurimages, VRT1, Streamz, Proximus, TorinoFilmLab, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Production Incentive and Belgian Tax Shelter. The film is set for distribution in Belgian cinemas in 2025, courtesy of Paradiso Filmed Entertainment.

(Translated from French)