Yesterday, Film Fest Ghent introduced the first two episodes of  “1985,” a new Belgian bilingual television series (Dutch and French). It’s a compelling coming-of-age story of three friends; two of them, Marc and Franky, played by Tijmen Govaerts and Aimé Claeys, become police recruits, while Franky’s sister Vicky, portrayed by newcomer Mona Mina Leon, is a law student and pirate radio DJ. They get caught up in police corruption with insider drug trading, fire arms robbery, and the rise of the deadly Nijvel gang in Belgium during the early 1980s.

The series’ director is Wouter Bouvijn (feature image, left) who previously directed Canneseries hits “The Twelve” (2019-2020) and “Red Lights” (2021). “1985” was also screened at Canneseries last April. The screenplay was written by Willem Wallyn (feature image, right), known for scripting series such as “The 16” (2016) and “Albatros” (2020), as well for his powerhouse feature drama “All of Us” (2020) which he also directed.

Other roles are portrayed by Flemish actors including Peter Van den Begin, Tom Vermeir, Titus De Voogdt, Barbara Sarafian and Ruth Becquart, and French-language actors such as Roda Fawaz, Yoann Blanc and Guillaume Kerbusch.

“1985” is a coproduced by Eyeworks, VRT/Eén and RTBF, with the support of VAF/Mediafonds, Screen Flanders, the Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Screen.Brussels) and the Belgian tax shelter with Casa Kafka Pictures, along with Wallimage (La Wallonie). The series was shot in May-October 2021 and will air on the Flemish TV channel één early 2023.

The following stills were taken last night during the red carpet ceremony of “1985” at Film Fest Ghent.