Camping Cosmos

Plot

On a campsite at the Belgian coast - where everybody wants to live in complete freedom and forget the obligations of everyday life - Jan Bucquoy, the delegate of the Ministry of Culture, must bring culture nearer to the working class. He presents things like Bertolt Brecht's play, Mother Courage and Her Children or an interview with the famous writer Pierre Mertens, but the vacationers at this caravan park are more interested in low-brow distractions, like soccer, boxing matches or beauty contests, as well as sexual adventures and temporary romances. One of the actors is dressed up to resemble Tintin.

Production

The production was entirely in the hands of Transatlantic Films and its director Francis De Smet. Because of the refusal of the Flemish Government to raise the capital fund of the equivalent of 200.000 Euro at that time, the film had a substantial delay and was not ready in time for the Cannes Film Festival of 1996. This had consequences for the release later in Belgium. The film could not be released before 1997 in Paris.

Reception

The film was at the origin of a controversy about the policy of Flemish state subsidising of films not at least because of the presence of main actress Lolo Ferrari.