LOST PERSONS AREA

Caroline Strubbe

05.09 Galeries 16:00 BUY YOUR TICKET

Fiction . 109' . Belgium / Hungary / The Netherlands . 2009 . VO EN / ST : FR / EN

Bettina and Marcus, a passionate couple, live in a canteen in the middle of a vast field with endless lines of pylons. Marcus, trying to set up his own business, works as a foreman in the maintenance of these power-lines. Bettina, bored and longing for a better life, runs the canteen for the workingmen. Their 9-years-old daughter Tessa, wanders the industrial area, looking for bits and pieces to occupy her mind, skipping school whenever she can. When Marcus hires a Hungarian engineer, Szabolcs, to become part of his company, their unconventional way of living takes a new turn. A tragic accident although will shatter everyone’s pursuit of happiness.

SACD Award for Best Screenplay – Cannes International Film Festival – 2009

Reflet d’Or Award for Best Film – Tout Ecrans, Geneva – 2009

Ensor Award for Best Actor – 2010

STARRING

Zoltan Miklos

Lisbeth Gruwez

Sam Louwyck

Kimke Desart

DIRECTOR

Caroline Strubbe

WRITERS

Caroline Strubbe

SOUND

Coen Gravendaal

PHOTOGRAPHY

Nicolas Karakatsanis

EDITING

Frédéric Fichefet

MUSIC

Albert Markos

PRODUCER

Minds Meets
Artémis production
De Productie
UJ Budapest Films Studio

DISTRIBUTOR

KFD (Kineopolis film distribution)

Caroline Strubbe

Caroline Strubbe studied film at the Escuela Cinematográfica in Barcelona and then at the IAD in Louvain-la-Neuve. After completing her studies, she produced Le garçon d’appartement, a play directed by Gérard Lauzier. At the same time, she co-directed Une mouche dans la salade, Shocking Manjira and the Cardboard Box and Un portrait de la Belgique, three successful documentaries broadcast on Arte. Her first short fiction film, Melomen, won several awards at festivals around the world. Two years later, her medium-length film Taxi Dancer won the Jury Special Mention at Sundance.

This was followed by her trilogy, filmed over 20 years… Trying to Forget to Remember, presented at MoMA in March 2026, which began with Lost Persons Area (2009), continued with I’m the Same, I’m an Other (2013) and concluded with The Silent Treatment.