Flemish TV series ‘Tytgat Chocolat’ wins award in Cannes

08/11/2017

On 17 October, the fiction series ‘Tytgat Chocolat’ received an international award for Diversity in Cannes, the unofficial film capital of Europe.

The award was presented during the ‘Diversity TV Excellence Awards’ at the MIPTV trade fair in the French seaside resort of Cannes. These awards are granted by professionals from the TV industry and honour TV programmes that have put a special focus on minorities, such as people with a disability and people from the LGBT community. The jury was full of praise about the nuanced and warm way in which the subject was portrayed.

The series tells the story of the packers of chocolate factory Tytgat Chocolat. The lead roles are played by actors with a mental disability from the theatre group Theater STAP. There are also roles for a few famous Flemish actors, such as Wim Opbrouck, Marc Van Eeghem, Els Dottermans, Frank Focketyn, Mieke De Groote, Jan Decleir and Flor Decleir.

The series was created by production company ‘De Mensen’ and was broadcasted on Sunday evenings on 'één'. It was written and directed by Filip Lenaerts and Marc Bryssinck, Theater STAP's artistic director.