About Czar
Czar is an international production company, that produces and co-produces feature films, short films, documentaries, tv shows and commercials. Above all, Czar is about talent, guts and the creativity of its directors and producers.
The production company was founded in 1999 by Belgian directors Koen Mortier and Joe Vanhoutteghem and quickly became one of the most influential production companies in Belgium and beyond. The work of Lionel Goldstein, the alias of directing duo Koen and Joe, played a key role in this success. Their projects have been awarded an impressive 18 Cannes Lions, including five gold, as well as a Grand Prix at Eurobest and numerous other prestigious awards. To this day, they continue to create films that surprise and innovate.
Since 2010, under the leadership of executive producer Eurydice Gysel and co-led creatively by Koen Mortier, Czar Film & TV has focused on director-driven cinema and ambitious TV projects. The company builds long-term collaborations with filmmakers who have a strong personal voice. Highlights include Koen Mortier’s Ex Drummer, Alex van Warmerdam’s Borgman (Official Competition, Cannes), and three seasons of the international TV series The Missing, nominated for Golden Globes and BAFTA TV Awards.
Recent feature films include Skunk by Koen Mortier, which won Best Film at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Just Film Competition) and Best Film at The Ensors 2025, The Weeping Walk by Dimitri Verhulst, and Jen Debauche’s experimental documentary The Anchor, starring Charlotte Rampling, which premiered at DocLisboa.
Recently, some Czar co-productions have been released. Al Baraneya, by Ashgan El-Hamus with Baldr Film, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Giornate degli Autori. The Garden of Earthly Delights (Morgan Knibbe), with Baldr Film, won Best Film at the Torino Film Festival. In post-production is the co-production Maalstroom by Teddy Cherim, while Woiski by Nicole van Kilsdonk and Manoushka Zeegelaar Breeveld, with Graniet Film, is currently in production. The third season of the TV series SAS: Rogue Heroes (BBC/Kudos), written by Steven Knight, is currently in post-production.
Czar is currently working on a number of new projects: Spice, the new feature by Koen Mortier, is in the financing stage, as is Czar’s first animated feature, Black Wolf (Raf Wathion). In the script phase is the new feature Tessa by Dimitri Verhulst, while the documentary The Tide Will Bring Us Home, about photographer Stephan Vanfleteren and directed by Basile Rabaey, is currently in post-production.