A diplodokus is a dinosaur with a long neck and a very long tail. It’s also the name which has been taken by one of Belgium’s most adventurous independent production companies. Since 2014, Diplodokus has been making documentary films, TV dramas and web-docs which have won awards and been shown at many international festivals.
Diplodokus is represented presents three new projects at RE>CONNEXT this week, namely Capturing The Pirate King (Lennart Stuyck), Louisiana Mees’ And Tomorrow, The Whole World and Philippe Niclaes’ As Long As We Can.
There were three co-founders of the outfit, Maarten Bernaerts, Bram Conjaerts and Lennart Stuyck. They had all been at the RITS film school in Brussels together – and it was there they became fascinated with the documentary form (having all originally intended to specialise in dramatised features).
“At a certain point, we were all working for television but we felt eager to make documentary in a different way than is possible with a [large] production company,” Bernaerts remembers of how Diplodokus came into existence.
“As kids, we were very interested in dinosaurs. The diplodokus is a very slow, big animal which is extinct but we found it a funny animal with a long tail, a big body and a small head. We thought it was a funny animal to be associated with.”
Diplodokus focuses both on documentary series and documentary films. One of its breakthrough projects was Janet van den Brand’s Ceres (2018), an immersive and poetic affair which follows four children growing up on a farm in a remote part of the Netherlands. This was a big hit on the festival circuit, screening everywhere from the Berlinale to Hot Docs.
In spite of the success of Ceres and of other Diplodokus films like Annapolis, Giant City and Tempest, Bernaerts acknowledges that Belgium remains a “difficult” market for theatrical documentary. The pandemic hasn’t helped. ”It was a little bit better before the Covid situation,” he notes, pointing out all the delayed fiction films which are also waiting to be released. “It’s a big queue.”
That is why the company mixes and matches between big screen, TV and online projects. Bernaerts remembered earlier in the company’s history sometimes being caught “in between projects,” which he describes as “a very uncomfortable situation.” Since then, the partners have always tried to keep a slate of projects at different stages on the boil. That means there are never moments when the work dries up or they’re forced to rely too heavily on a single commission.
The partners are also pragmatic about how their work is seen. After all, documentaries can take years to complete and they’re often tough to finance.
“Of course, I would like to see all our documentaries as theatrical releases in the theatres because what is greater than to see a beautiful documentary in cinemas…”
Bernearts himself is heavily involved both in the creative and business side of the company. He directed urban design doc Annapolis, Giant City (2020), while also running the company and producing films by other directors. “Switching between directing and producing was more difficult than I had thought. It was like using another part of your brain.”
What of the new projects which will be presented at RE>CONNEXT? The work-in-progress series Capturing The Pirate King, directed by Lennart Stuyck, is about Somali pirates hijacking a Belgian ship. “We tell the story of everyone who was involved, from the victims to the pirates and the prosecutors when they [the pirates] were arrested and went to trial,” Bernaerts explains. This series is currently at early post-production stage.
By way of complete contrast, As Long As We Can, directed by Philippe Niclaes, is a far more intimate and closely focused affair. It looks at Flemish village stores which have been run by the same families for generations but are now struggling to survive in a fast changing world.
And Tomorrow The Entire World directed by Louisiana Mees is about teenage refugees from different paths of the world living in the same house in Mechelen, trying to integrate and build themselves a new life. It will start shooting shortly.
This is the third year at which Diplodokus has is participating in Connext. Like others, Bernaerts will miss the personal networking opportunities that might have been possible if the event had gone ahead as a physical edition rather than online. “But of course, we will travel to IDFA [afterwards]. I think Connext can help us with the online connection and then maybe we can meet up [with potential partners] afterwards in person, in Amsterdam!”
