De opdracht to have world premiere in Tallinn
Patrice Toye’s Belgian-German-Dutch co-production has been selected for the official competition.
Translated from Dutch by AI
Patrice Toye’s new feature film, De opdracht, will have its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in November. The production is a co-production between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, with support from several national and European funds.
De opdracht has been selected for the official competition of the 30th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which takes place from 6 to 22 November. According to the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, the film will be shown there for the first time. The festival is an important meeting point for European sales agents, distributors and co-production partners.
Director Patrice Toye has adapted the novel by Dutch writer Wessel te Gussinklo. The story is set in Flanders in 1947 and follows a boy who, after the war, searches for identity, recognition and influence at a summer camp. Toye wrote the screenplay with Peter Seynaeve.
Hans Everaert produced the film for Antwerp-based Menuetto. The co-production partners are Belgium’s Stenola Productions, Germany’s 2Pilots and the Netherlands’ Willy Waltz International. The creative team includes cinematographer Richard van Oosterhout, editor Bert Jacobs and composer John Parish.
The financing reflects the co-production structure. Cineuropa cites support from the VAF, the Belgian tax shelter, the Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive, DFFF, Nordmedia, NRW, Creative Europe MEDIA and Eurimages. VRT and Proximus are also listed as partners.
The Netherlands Film Fund previously awarded €230,184 through the Netherlands Film Production Incentive. The scheme supports demonstrable production costs spent in the Netherlands. The VAF also lists €625,000 in production support, in addition to earlier development and screenplay support.
The film is scheduled for a Belgian cinema release in 2027. According to Cineuropa, Lumière is handling Benelux distribution and Reason8 the international sales. The Tallinn premiere gives the producers an initial international sales opportunity, but says nothing yet about the eventual commercial return or the number of cinemas in which the film will be released.
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The festival information and production details have been confirmed by Cineuropa and the VAF. The individual financial contributions come from different official fund listings and are therefore explicitly described as separate awards.
- Confirmed De opdracht has been selected for the official competition at Tallinn Black Nights, held from 6 to 22 November 2026. — Cineuropa and the VAF report the selection and festival dates.
- Confirmed The film is a co-production between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. — The co-production companies are named by Cineuropa and the VAF.
- Confirmed The Netherlands Film Production Incentive awarded €230,184. — The Netherlands Film Fund lists this amount for the project.
- Confirmed The VAF awarded €625,000 in production support. — The VAF lists the amount and the award date.
- Confirmed Lumière is handling Benelux distribution and Reason8 worldwide sales. — This rights allocation is stated in the Cineuropa report.
Editor’s note
The festival selection, co-production, financing partners and distribution have been confirmed by multiple sources. The stated support amounts relate to different funding rounds and should not be read as a single total.Sources
- Patrice Toye’s The Assignment to compete in Black Nights — Cineuropa
- De opdracht van Patrice Toye geselecteerd voor Tallinn — Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds
- Netherlands Film Production Incentive invests €4.6 million in 14 new productions — Nederlands Filmfonds
- De Opdracht — Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds