'Le Faux Soir' official closing film 53rd Film Fest Gent

November 1943. Belgium is groaning under the German occupation, and Le Soir has been commandeered by the Nazis as a propaganda outlet. When even the Armistice Day commemoration is banned, a group of Brussels resistance fighters, led by the anarchist poet Marc ‘Yvon’ Aubrion (Arieh Worthalter), concoct a daring plan. They intend to produce their own edition of Le Soir: using the same paper, title, and layout, but featuring articles that ruthlessly expose the occupiers. To get their counterfeit issue onto newsstands alongside the genuine papers, they must secure paper, printing presses, and accomplices in a matter of weeks. A single misstep could cost them their lives.

With Le Faux Soir, Michaël R. Roskam resurrects a nearly forgotten chapter of Belgian history. The director of Bullhead (2011) transforms this true story of resistance into a tense heist movie, where improvisation and Brussels wit prove just as vital as courage. Arieh Worthalter leads an impressive Belgian-French ensemble cast that includes Peter Van de Begin, Ruth Bequart, Karim Leklou, Mara Taquin, Bouli Lanners, François Damiens and Viviane De Muynck. Not bullets, but printing ink: here, humor becomes a weapon against a regime attempting to tighten its grip on reality through propaganda. 

It is precisely in this that Roskam finds the urgency of a story that had all but vanished from the collective memory. Le Faux Soir is not merely about resistance against an occupying force; it is about who controls information, and thereby determines what people accept as truth. Technology has changed, but the battle for the narrative has not. What began in 1943 with a handful of resistance fighters and a forged front page grew into one of the most spectacular operations of the Belgian underground press.

With Le Faux Soir, the 53rd edition of Film Fest Gent concludes with a compelling tribute to the power of words, humor, and imagination — and a reminder that the fight for the truth is never fully won.

Tickets for Le Faux Soir are available from this Thursday 17 September at filmfestgent.be.