NARRATIVE – Raf Reyntjens

After graduating from the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema & Sound in Brussels, he emerged with two short films starring Matthias Schoenaerts: the sci-fi fantasy A Message from Outer Space, which traveled widely on the festival circuit, and Tunnelrat, the first film to depict underground warfare during World War I, selected for MoMA’s exhibition The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy. His feature debut, Paradise Trips, was shot at a live psychedelic music festival in Croatia. Premiering in 2015 to international acclaim, the film went on to win three Ensors (Flemish Film Awards) at the Ostend Film Festival. For television, he co-directed the crime comedy Glad IJs (aka The Kidnapping of Phil Frisco) before creating the critically acclaimed miniseries Déjà Vu. In 2024, he directed four episodes of the historical drama Marie-Antoinette (S2) for Canal+ and BBC, followed by the final episodes of Channel 4’s hit drama Patience (S2). Alongside his narrative work, Reyntjens has built a solid reputation as a commercial and music video director. He is best known for his collaboration with Stromae, most notably the iconic video for Papaoutai, a stylized portrait of a boy confronting the absence of his father, a theme that echoes throughout his narrative work. Currently, Raf is developing his second feature film.