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A multi-methodological research project on same-language film remakes between Flanders and The Netherlands

Researcher(s) (CIMS)

Eduard Cuelenaere

Supervisors (CIMS)

Gertjan Willems

Stijn Joye

Funded by

Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)

Presentation

Four-year research project: 01/01/2016 - 31/12/2019

Since the turn of the millennium, film production in the Low Countries has seen the rise of a remarkable trend: popular Dutch films are being remade in Flanders, and vice versa. This research project aims to critically investigate this emerging - and from an international viewpoint highly exceptional - practice of remaking films within a same language region of barely 23 million speakers.

By combining in-depth textual, production, distribution and (critical and audience) reception analyses, this research project aims to scrutinize the various cultural and economic dynamics and dimensions involved in the Flemish-Dutch remake phenomenon, thereby paying particular attention to the intersection with issues of cultural identity and cultural proximity. Apart from its relevance for a better understanding of the Flemish-Dutch interactions in contemporary film and media culture, this project provides a significant and original empirical contribution to key debates in adaptation studies, cultural media studies and the research field of intercultural communication.