BAPTISTE

Synopsis
Julien Baptiste is staying in Amsterdam where his daughter has recently had a child. Forever under their feet and restless he is invited to meet up with an old flame, Martha Horchner, chief of police in Amsterdam. But this isn’t a lunch to catch up on old times, she wants his help to find a missing girl, Natalie, the niece of an Englishman, Edward Stratton. She believes the case is connected to a Romanian sex trafficking gang. It’s vital that they find her. Baptiste is a nail-biting ride full of twists and turns where nothing and nobody are as they first seem. Amsterdam is the backdrop but everything we see is just a veneer as Julien Baptiste searches its narrow alleyways, its basements and under the waters of its canals to uncover the darker side of the city’s famous Red Light District.

Credits
Directors –  Jan Matthys & Börkur Sigþórsson
Writers – Harry & Jack Williams
Producers – Two Brothers Pictures & BBC One in association with All3Media International
Co-producer Belgium – Eurydice Gysel (Czar TV)
Cinematographers – Árni Filippusson & John Lee
Editors – Sofie Alonzi, Daniel Greenway, Carmela Iandoli & Peggy Koretzky
Art Directors – Stijn Verhoeven, Andrew Lavin & Jan Rutgers
Cast – Tchéky Karyo, Tom Hollander, Jessica Raine, Talisa Garcia, Barbara Sarafian, Boris Van Severen, Alec Secareanu

Funding 
Two Brothers Ltd, BBC, All3Media, BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance (& Belgian Tax Shelter), VRT, Screen Flanders

Sales
All3Media
Benelux sales – Dutch FilmWorks

Bio Director
Jan Matthys – Belgian film and television director. Jan started his career directing non-fiction such as ‘Zalm voor Corleone’ and ‘De Bende van Wim’. However he soon discovered that his heart was with fiction. He directed some episodes of series such as ‘Aspe’ and ‘Kinderen van Dewindt’, but his real breakthrough was in 2008 with ‘Katarakt’. In 2011 Jan directed a few episodes of the internationally acclaimed series ‘Code 37’. A year later he surprised everyone with the series ‘Quiz Me Quick’. The series was awarded with 2 Rockie Awards for Best Sitcom and Best Entertainment at the BANFF World Media Festival in Canada. It was also nominated for the Prix Europa. For his oeuvre until now, and more specifically his directing of ‘In Flanders Field’, Jan Matthys received the EuroFipa d’Honneur at the 2014 Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels in Biarritz.

Börkur Sigþórsson – Filmmaker and photographer Börkur Sigthorsson lives and works between London and Reykjavik. He started his professional career in photography in Iceland at the age of 20 but quickly branched into directing. In 2004, Börkur was signed as a director to the renowned UK music video production company Oil Factory (later to become Factory Films), where he worked for a number of years. After writing and directing two award-winning short films, ‘Support’ (2008) and ‘Come to Harm’ (2011), Börkur went on to direct six episodes of the acclaimed TV crime drama ‘Trapped’, created by Baltasar Kormakur. Börkur went on to direct an episode of the ‘Endeavour’ for ITV and will direct the opening block of the upcoming 6-part drama ‘Baptiste’ for BBC One. 

Awards 

• Winner Best Actress TV at BAFTA Awards, Scotland, 2017
• Winner Best Actor TV at BAFTA Awards, Scotland, 2015
• Winner Best Actress at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, 2017
• Winner Outstanding Actress in Mini Series at Monte-Carlo TV Festival, 2015
• Winner Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini Series or Motion Picture Made for Television at Sichuan TV Festival, 2015
• Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in Miniseries or Motion Picture made for Television & Best Miniseries or Motion Picture made for Television at Golden Globes USA, 2015
• Nominated for Outstanding Directing for Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special &  Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or a Special Dramatic at Primetime Emmy Awards, 2015
• Nominated for Best Sound, Fiction at BAFTA Awards, 2017
• Nominated for Audience Award TV, Best Drama Series, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor at BAFTA Awards, 2015
• Nominated for Sound and Fiction Entertainment & Editing Fiction at BAFTA TV Craft, 2015 
• Nominated for Best Actor at Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, 2015
• Nominated for Best Actor in Movie / Limited Series at Critics Choice Television Awards, 2015
• Nominated for Best TV Actor at IGN Summer Movie Awards, 2014
• Nominated for Best Editing at Irish Film and Television Awards, 2015
• Nominated for Best Mini Series & Outstanding Actor in a Mini Series at MOnte-Carlo TV Festival, 2015
• Nominated for Best Music in a Non-Series at Online Film & Television Association, 2015
• Nominated for Best Picture at Royal Television Society, UK, 2017
• Nominated Best Cinematography by an Actor in a Mini Series or Motion Picture Made for Television at Sichuan TV Festival, 2015

Online links
BBC