Split Screen has acquired world rights for Planet B, the third feature by filmmaker and climate activist Pieter Van Eecke, which celebrated its world premiere at Visions du Réel. The film is produced by Hanne Phlypo for Belgian production outlet Clin d’oeil films in co-production with Katja Draaijer and Frank Hoeve for BALDR Film (the Netherlands), broadcaster VRT and Shelter Prod.
Planet B is described as a “coming-of-age story of two young people trying to grow up in a world that is destroying itself,” and follows thirteen-year-old Bo and her best friend Luca who decide to take up the fight against climate change and join Extinction Rebellion. As Luca proposes increasingly radical action, the more thoughtful Bo looks for her own way through the moral, ethical and practical dilemmas of our age…
Marcella Jelic, founder of Split Screen, comments: “We loved how the film is playful and serious at the same time, depicting intelligent, brave and emphatic teenagers concerned about the world we live in and its dominant values, especially the idea of continuous growth. They are our hope that a better future could be on our way. A tender coming-of-age story is mixed with fierce activism, opening many different themes from mental health issues to the essence of activism itself, creating a picture of a new generation who has to grow up with such deep concerns that we can’t help but wonder how much progress is enough.”
Director Pieter Van Eecke adds: “This film is a mixture of a political film, a climate film and a coming-of-age film. I wanted to make a portrait of this generation as they come of age because I think it is the first generation that has to face a future that is fading away. Instead of the world opening up to them, they are confronted with something that is escaping them, and they have to fight for their right to be adults in a liveable world. Their experience is also marred by a certain incongruity that they witness between the adults’ words and actions. Greta Thunberg, for instance, was very vocal about the total irresponsibility of adults in tackling the climate crisis. How do you even grow up and become a responsible adult if you do not have good role models?”
‘Planet B’ is Van Eecke’s third feature. His first feature-length documentary Samuel in the Clouds (2016) won, among others, the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago Film Festival, the Gold Gentiano at the Trento Film Festival and the Full Frame Environmental Award. His second feature Holding Up the Sky premiered in March 2023 at FIFDH Geneva and is currently on theatrical release in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Planet B is supported by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Netherlands Film Fund (NFF), Taxshelter.be and ING and the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government and co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA of the European Union.
Source: Business Doc Europe 2023.