The Misfortunates

Gunther Strobbe, 13, lives with his father and three uncles at his grandmother's.

There, he daily faces enormous quantities of alcohol, picking up women and shameless hanging out and doing nothing.

Everything points to Gunther suffering the same fate. Or will Gunther yet manage to escape his misfortune?

• Kenneth Vanbaeden
• Valentijn Dhaenens
• Koen De Graeve
• Wouter Hendrickx
• Johan Heldenbergh
• Bert Haelvoet
• Gilda De Bal

• Natali Broods
• Pauline Grossen
• Sofie Palmers
• Guy Dermul
• Jos Geens
• Robby Cleiren
• Sara De Bosschere
• Lynn Van Royen
• Charlotte Vandermeersch

• Felix van Groeningen
• Christophe Dirickx & Felix van Groeningen
• director of photography Ruben Impens
• editing Nico Leunen
• sound Jan Deca
• Michel Schöpping
• production design Kurt Rigolle
• Ann Lauwerys
• Diana Dreesen
• original soundtrack Jef Neve
• production manager Ab van Overbeeke
• line producer Johan Van den Driessche
• co-producer IDTV Film

• shooting location Belgium
• original version Dutch
• shooting period 21 July - 5 September 2008
• support Red Digital Cinema®, colour
• format 2:35
• financial partners Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Netherlands Film Fund, Vlaamse Media Maatschappij, Prime, MEDIA programme of the European Union, Kinepolis Group, Vanden Avenne Izegem, btech, Standaard Boekhandel, Belgacom, Unitron
• international sales MK2
• theatrical distribution Belgium Kinepolis Film Distribution
• theatrical distribution France MK2 Diffusion
• theatrical distribution The Netherlands Wild Bunch
• theatrical distribution USA NeoClassics Films
• dvd-distribution Benelux Lumière
• dvd-distribution France MK2 Diffusion
• release Belgium 7 October 2009
• release The Netherlands 8 October 2009
• release France 30 December 2009
• artwork Natasja Billiau

• Cannes International Film Festival 13-25 May 2009
• Munchen Film Fest 26 Jun-4 Jul 2009
• Toronto International Film Festival 10-19 Sept 2009
• Festival de Quend du Film Grolandais 18-20 Sept 2009
• The days of European Cinema 18-27 Sept 2009
• Bangkok Film Festival 24-30 Sept 2009
• Ghent International Film Festival 6-17 Oct 2009
• The Hamptons International Film Festival – New York 8-12 Oct 2009
• Pusan International Film Festival 8-16 Oct 2009
• Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal 8-18 Oct 2009
• Cinésonne European Film Festival - Paris 9-24 Oct 2009
• Bergen International Film Festival 21-28 Oct 2009
• Mostra Internacional de Cinema de Sao Paulo 23 Oct-5 Nov 2009
• Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata 6-15 Nov 2009
• Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 16-25 Nov 2009
• Bratislava International Film Festival 27 Nov-4 Dec 2009
• Palm Springs Film Festival 27 Nov-4 Dec 2009
• Göteborg International Film Festival 29 Jan-8 Feb 2010
• Cinema Mundi 24 Feb-3 Mar 2010
• Hong Kong International Film Festival 21 Mar-6 Apr 2010
• Istanbul Film Festival 3-18 Apr 2010
• CPH:PIX 2010 15-25 Apr 2010
• Mosaico d'Europa Film Festival 19-24 Apr 2010
• Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz 20-25 Apr 2010
• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2-10 Jul 2010
• New Zealand International Film Festival 22 Jul-8 Aug 2010
• Melbourne International Film Festival 22 Jul-8 Aug 2010
• Warsaw International Film Festival 8-17 Oct 2010
• Osaka European Film Festival 18-23 Nov 2010
• Leeds International Film Festival 4-21 Nov 2010
• Festival Les Enfants du Cinéma 1-18 Feb 2011
• 29. Festroia - International Film Festival of Sétubal 7-16 jun 2013
• Festival Paris Cinéma 28 June-9 July 2013
• Festival de Cinéma de la ville de Québec 19-29 sep 2013
• Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur 27 sep-04 okt 2013

• Prix Art et Essai - Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Cannes International Film Festival, May 2009
• L’Amphore d’Or for Best Film Festival de Quend du Film Grolandais, Sept 2009
• Jo Röpcke Film Award Ghent International Film Festival, Oct 2009
• Golden Starfish Award for Best Film The Hamptons International Film Festival – New York, Oct 2009
• Zickerman Foundation Award for Best Photography (Ruben Impens) The Hamptons International Film Festival – New York, Oct 2009
• Kodak Award for Best Script (Christophe Dirickx and Felix van Groeningen) The Hamptons International Film Festival – New York, Oct 2009
• Best Film Cinésonne European Film Festival, Oct 2009, Paris
• Best Male Actor (shared prize by Koen De Graeve and Kenneth Vanbaeden) Cinésonne European Film Festival, Oct 2009, Paris
• Audience Award Cinésonne European Film Festival, Oct 2009, Paris
• Audience Award Bratislava International Film Festival, Nov 2009
• Golden Tulip Award for Best Film Istanbul International Film Festival, Apr 2010
• Coup de coeur des lycéens Festival Les Enfants du Cinéma, Feb 2011

As freelance pianist Jef Neve performed with various jazz bands, classical ensembles, pop bands (e.g. 'Get Ready', the famous Belgian boys band), theatre productions and studio sessions. As jazz musician he worked with Dré Pallemaerts, Paolo Fresu, Lindsey Horner, etc… His Trio, with bassplayer Piet Verbist and drummer Teun Verbruggen, has been together since more than ten years. The outstanding musicianship combined with fine tuned interactivity and visible joy while playing is very communicative and makes an event of each concert.

He has written the soundtrack for Felix van Groeningen's second feature "With Friends Like These" ('Dagen zonder lief', 2007) which came out in the cinemas in March 2007. Critics mention the sound track as being one of the strong points of the movie and Jef Neve was invited to perform extracts from the score at the 'World Soundtrack Awards' in an arrangement for piano and orchestra.

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