Ghost Tropic
Synopsis
After a long working day, 58-year-old cleaner Khadija falls asleep in the last metro. When she wakes with a start at the end of the line, she has no choice other than to walk home, halfway across Brussels in the middle of the night.
In his previous film, Hellhole, Devos revealed the upper echelons of the European melting pot that is his home town, Brussels, to be a rather dismal environment. In many respects, Ghost Tropic is a mirror image of that film. From the high life of the Members of the European Parliament we descend to life on the streets. At the same time, the downcast mood shifts towards something more hopeful. Because the threat you might expect never materialises.
Up-and-coming Flemish filmmaker Bas Devos shows us Khadija’s congenial meetings in a series of almost fairy-tale vignettes. The night owls she comes across often have little to offer, but still help her where they can. Khadija helps them out in return.
- Director: Bas Devos
- Writer: Bas Devos
- Main cast: Maaike Neuville, Nora Dari, Saadia Bentaïeb, Stefan Gota, Cédric Luvuezo
- Production: Quetzalcoatl, 180 films, Minds Meet
- Co-production: Phanta Film, Kunstencentrum Buda, KC nOna shelterprod
- Sales agent of World Sales: Rediance
- Supported by: Proximus, Telenet, Canvas, Windmill Film, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), tax shelter incentive of the Belgian federal government
Festivals:
Wereldpremière Quinzaines des Realisateurs, Cannes FF 2019, IFFRotterdam 2019, Valletta FF Malta 2019, FID Marseille 2019, Galway Film Fleadh 2019, Guanajuato IFF 2019, Jerusalem FF 2019, New Horizons FF 2019, Hamburg FF 2019, FF Cologne 2019, Gent IFF 2019, Chicago IFF 2019, Kyiv Critics Week 2019, Thessaloniki IFF 2019 Cairo IFF 2019, Spring FF Lithuania 2019, D’A FF Spanje 2019, IndieLisboa IFF 2020, Hong Kong IFF 2021
Awards & Nominations:
Guanajuato International Film Festival 2019, Winner International Feature Competition Best Film; Cairo International Film Festival 2019 Winner Silver Pyramid for Best Director, and Nominee Golden Pyramid for Best Film; Winner Chlotrudis Award 2019; Festival International de Cinéma de Marseille (FIDMarseille) 2019, Nominee GNCR Award; Film Festival Oostende 2021 Nominee Ensor Beste Film, Quetzalcoatl, Best Director (Beste Regie), Beste Actrice Saadia Bentaïeb; Galway Film Fleadh 2019, Nominee Feature Film Award Best International Film; Ghent International Film Festival 2019, Nominee Grand Prix Best Film; Hamburg Film Festival 2019, Nominee Critics Award; IndieLisboa International Independent Film Festival 2020, Nominee Grand Prize City of Lisbon International Competition; Jerusalem Film Festival 2019, Nominee In Spirit for Freedom Award Best Feature; T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival, Poland 2019, Nominee Grand Prix, International Competition.