''Flemish Heaven'' () is a 2016 Belgian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Peter Monsaert.
It was screened in the Discovery section at the
2016 Toronto International Film Festival
The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown.
Awards
The festival's final awards were ...
.
Plot
Monique runs a
brothel
A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
together with her daughter Sylvie and some other girls. Eline is the six-year-old daughter of Sylvie. The brothel is a forbidden area for her. However, on her birthday she sneaks into the brothel and meets a travestite of whom only the voice is heard and some small parts of his clothes. He kidnaps Eline and sexually assaults her. She is found by Dirk, a bus driver. He is the father of Eline but this must remain a secret. That's why he is introduced as an uncle of Eline since she was born. The police starts an investigation but all tracks are a dead end. Both Sylvie and Dirk try to find the man who is responsible. Dirk and Eline meet a drunk
Sinterklaas
Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' (derive ...
on 5 December. The man's behavior towards the children and the way Eline acts when she sees him, makes Dirk believe he is the wrongdoer. Eline tells Dirk the wrongdoer is named Robert. When Sinterklaas insinuates his name is Robert, Dirk kills him. He burns the car of the man and buries him under concrete on his farm. The police closes the investigation of Eline's case. Around Christmas a message is on national television regarding the disappeared man who is called Philippe. Eline associates this man with Sinterklaas and is happy he will not return. It is not revealed if Philippe is indeed the
peadophile. Dirk gets remorse and wants to hang himself just before the ending credits but his fate is unknown.
Cast
*
Sara Vertongen as Sylvie
*
Wim Willaert
Wim Willaert (born 19 March 1967) is a Belgian actor.
He is best known for his performance as Frank Welvaert in the TV series ''Eigen Kweek
(English: ''Home Grown'') was a 2013-2019 Belgian crime comedy television series on the Belgian channel ...
as Dirk
*
Esra Vandenbussche as Eline
*
Ingrid De Vos as Monique
*
Isabelle van Hecke as Vanessa
References
External links
*
2016 films
2016 drama films
Belgian drama films
2010s Dutch-language films
2010s French-language films
Dutch-language Belgian films
French-language Belgian films
2010s Belgian films
2016 multilingual films
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