Walloon Cinema’s Triumphant Year Culminates in Toronto Premiere of ‘Le Faux Soir’

It is no surprise that Belgian cinema has gained international prominence in recent years. Cinema is a language, and Belgian filmmakers hail from a country built on the necessity of understanding language as a bridge—between regions, people, and idioms. The nation boasts three official languages—Dutch, French, and German—and is divided into three highly autonomous regions: Flanders to the north, Wallonia to the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region in the center.

The Walloon region is having a standout year in cinema, set to be crowned by the world premiere of Michaël R. Roskam’s “Le Faux Soir” at the Toronto International Film Festival, followed by a prominent closing gala slot at San Sebastián. The latest film from the renowned “Bullhead” director chronicles the true story of the Belgian resistance, which, at the height of the Nazi occupation in 1943, orchestrated a fake edition of Le Soir, the country’s largest newspaper, which had been seized by the Germans as a propaganda tool.

The film marks a homecoming for Roskam after years spent on Hollywood projects, leading him to reflect on how Belgians are often “too modest about their own history.”

“There is something deeply Belgian in its combination of courage, restraint, pacifism, and humor: an ability to resist without losing a sense of irony or self-awareness,” the director continues. “That spirit is central to the people behind ‘Le Faux Soir,’ but it also resonates in Belgian history—and, in some ways, in Belgium today. It has given me a renewed sense of pride in where I come from.”

Having such a high-profile Toronto premiere is particularly significant this year, as 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of Wallonie-Bruxelles Images (WBImages), the agency for the international promotion of film and audiovisual works from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Speaking with Variety from Venice, where the agency presented Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni’s “Diane in the Loop,” WBImages director Hervé Le Phuez says his team can feel “genuinely proud of the work accomplished” over the last four decades.

“What makes us particularly happy is to see how well and widely our films travel internationally, and how many of our producers and other film professionals are now working across borders,” he adds, citing recent co-productions such as “A Man of His Time” and “Forever Your Maternal Animal.” “The number of international co-productions involving Wallonia-Brussels producers every year is probably one of the best indicators of this strong international presence.”

Le Phuez clarifies that both WBImages and the Film and Audiovisual Center of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation support audiovisual production at the Communities level. “Rather than looking at filmmakers from one particular region, we are interested in creators who contribute to what we could call a ‘Belgian attitude’ in terms of characters, storytelling, cinematographic language, and their worldview.”

“Although these films are Belgian, they often carry the voices of talents from very different regions, countries, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds,” he notes. “This openness and our ability to welcome filmmakers from different backgrounds is one of the strengths of Belgian cinema [and] one of the reasons why [it] remains so diverse, dynamic, and internationally relevant.”

This truth is evident in the Walloon presence in Toronto, spearheaded by “Le Faux Soir” and Lukas Dhont’s Cannes-winning queer war drama “Coward.” Both films were made in collaboration between Flanders and Wallonia, with “Le Faux Soir” being a majority Walloon production and “Coward” a majority Flemish one.

Ronni Shalev, whose short film “2:Love” is also world premiering in Toronto, adds to this line of thought from an immigrant perspective. “As an immigrant to Belgium, I was pretty blown away by the financial support offered to beginner auteurs who have a strong artistic vision,” he says.

“I was amazed by the freedom given to auteurs,” he adds. “I was encouraged to propose a compelling artistic proposal and to bring it to life, with a strong emphasis on materiality and originality. In animation, this often translates to longer and more expensive productions, but I felt that I was encouraged.”

Shalev believes this creative freedom and encouragement ties “into a larger Walloon ethic of a do-it-yourself and can-do approach to art.” “People tend to decide on a project here, however grandiose, and figure out how to make it happen as they go along. I think that this approach lends a hand to having very unique and idiosyncratic voices in cinema—both on a narrative and a visual level.”

Sameh Alaa and Robin Vouters’s short film “The Day I Smoked a Cigarette With My Father” is also world premiering at TIFF, and producer Delphine Duez of Belgium’s White Boat Pictures mirrors Shalev’s thoughts. “There is a very particular energy in Walloon and Belgian cinema today,” she says. “Young filmmakers are not necessarily trying to reproduce what has already been done. They are taking risks, blending genres, working with materiality, the body, and the intimate, and inventing their own cinematic languages.”

Looking at the crop of films coming out of Wallonia and Belgium more widely, Roskam says it is “encouraging” to see the “range of voices currently at work.” “New generations are emerging, while established filmmakers continue to make ambitious work. The number and diversity of films being developed across the country is impressive.”

“Many completely independent films are made and create a strong feeling of possibility,” Shalev adds. “This is crucially made possible by the ‘statut d’artiste,’ a social status given to artists that ensures they are paid a salary by social security during the weeks in the year when they don’t have a work contract. A welfare state utopia, in effect. These benefits and opportunities are currently under threat of being dismantled and erased by Belgium’s current right-wing government. But so long as they exist, they make the local cinema scene rich with ideas and experimentation.”

Duez adds that, while Belgium is recognized for the quality of its crews, “what strikes us most is the human dimension of the industry.” “People are willing to give their time, their talent, and their experience to a project—and, importantly, to the next generation.”

“Even very experienced and senior professionals are often ready to put themselves at the service of a young filmmaker when they feel that the project has that essential spark,” she adds. “There is less of a rigid industrial hierarchy. People meet each other more easily, personalities emerge, and collaboration can remain very direct.”

Le Phuez concurs, emphasizing Belgium’s “virtuous circle” of production and financing. “We have three different levels of public competence and, consequently, three different support schemes for cinema, which can be combined and allow filmmakers to put together significant financing for their films.” Still, the agency director believes the “greatest strength” of their creators is an “ability to preserve their originality despite the growing uniformization of the global world.”

“They manage to remain true to their own voices while reaching audiences internationally,” he says. “And we think that is something really valuable.”

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