Koen Mortier

In 1999 Koen Mortier established CZAR in Brussels with friend and fellow director, Joe Vanhoutteghem. In no time the company quickly became one of the most creative production companies on the Belgian market.

Koen has directed a wide range of remarkable commercials which has won him international recognition. He has won awards at Cannes Lions, Eurobest, Ciclope, Epica and more and has worked with clients such as Eurosport, Toyota, Equal Pay Day, Hornbach and the European Parliament.

His TNT commercial ‘Push To Add Drama’ reached over 60 million clicks, and is the most awarded Belgian campaign in history.

Additionally, under the alias of Lionel Goldstein, he directs commercials and music videos with fellow director Joe Vanhoutteghem; both adepts of the absurd, they are set on constantly pushing the boundaries. They have won 17 Cannes Lions with their commercials.

Besides his successful advertising career, Mortier has also completed and internationally toured with his feature films. Ex Drummer (2007) premiered at the Rotterdam and the Toronto International Film Festivals. The film won awards at Fantasia Film Festival, Raindance and the Warsaw International Film Festival. His next film 22nd of May (2010) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won awards at the Leeds, Mexico and Baghdad International Film Festivals. His feature film Un Ange (2018) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Currently, he has undertaken two ambitious projects. One being Voices Of Liberation an 11-part Netflix docu-series about the Second World War.

In March 2024, his latest feature film Skunk, based on the novel by Geert Taghon, premiered in theaters. The film won the ‘Best Film Award’ at the Ensors 2025, received international awards, and was the most-watched Flemish film of 2024. The film was also ranked second among the most-viewed Flemish films on Belgian streamingplatform Streamz that year.