Michaël R. Roskam’s ‘Le Faux Soir’ Set as Closing Film of San Sebastián Film Festival

Following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, Le Faux Soir, directed by Belgian filmmaker Michaël R. Roskam, will make its European premiere as the closing film of the Official Selection of the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Roskam, who won the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay with The Drop (2014), now recreates one of the most curious episodes of the Belgian Resistance movement during the 2nd World War, a clandestine operation that turned the press into a weapon against the nazi occupiers.

Based on the book Le “faux” Soir, 9 novembre 1943, by Marie Istas, the film stars Arieh Worthalter, Mélanie Thierry, Karim Leklou, Mara Taquin, Bouli Lanners, Julien Frison and François Damiens.

The story is set in 1943, when, having occupied Belgium, the Nazis turn the national newspaper Le Soir into their propaganda tool. With 1918 Armistice Day commemorations forbidden, a group of Resistance fighters comes up with a wild idea: what if, to lift the spirits of the Belgian people, they could print a fake edition of Le Soir? Same paper, same nameplate, same format, but packed with articles mocking the occupier. A true story. A fake newspaper. The world’s first media hack.

Michaël R. Roskam worked as a journalist for the Dutch-language newspaper De Morgen. He wrote and directed short films such as Carlo (2004) and The One Thing to Do (2005). He made his feature film debut with Bullhead (Rundskop) (2011), which, following its premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin Festival, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best International Film and his inclusion on Variety’s Ten Directors to Watch list.