Joke Devynck

Do we still sing the praises of folly like Erasmus, or is it trendy again to be smart? And if so, who is the smartest? Who can talk about the medals won at the Olympic Games in London, but at the same time knows who Captain Haddock is? Who knows whether Lacan was a hair growth product or a psychoanalyst and can also program their own digital television? Who has déjà vu when leafing through the Encyclopedia Britannica and when reading the interviews with the new Miss Waregem Koerse? Who, oh who, is the smartest person in Flanders, Belgium, Europe, and by extension, the world? That is determined by a fierce battle between three fellow human beings. Every day, someone is eliminated, someone who may not be the smartest, but who is perhaps cherished in their family circle because of their many other talents. The others advance and are joined by a new challenger every day.

'Familie' is the longest running Belgian soap opera. The Van den Bossches originally had an electronics company, later a holding company that included a clothing chain and a sandwich shop. In the meantime, we closely follow the personal lives of the Van den Bossches and their entourage. Grandma Anna and all her children and grandchildren have been through a lot over time and it doesn't look like their lives will become calmer any time soon.

'De Kotmadam' was a classic Flemish comedy television series, that aired from 1991 to 2024, meaning the show is the longest running Belgian sitcom in terms of time and amounts of episodes and seasons. The series revolves around Jeanne Piens, who owns a small sweet shop in the centre of Leuven and rents out several rooms of her house to students studying in the city. She is a caring type and loves all her students. Her husband Jef Liefooghe works for the city's gardening department. Except for the last season, their friend Odilon Bonheur, a naïve warden in the local prison, visits regularly to give or seek help.

Witse is a Dutch language crime drama produced by Belgian broadcaster VRT and broadcast on their één channel. It is also shown on BVN. First broadcast in 2004, as of 2010 the programme comprises eight series with a ninth and final series planned for 2012. It stars Hubert Damen as the eponymous Witse, a driven inspector in the Belgian federal police based in Halle. It is one of the most popular Flemish television programmes with some 1.6 million viewers. There are also Witse books. The first three were based on the last two episodes of each season, but since 2010 every six months a brand new story is published, written and invented by established Belgian writers, as Bob Van Laerhoven and Bart Van Lierde. The music for Witse is composed by Steve Willaert.

At East Bank Station, a close-knit team of firefighters must balance a dangerous, high-stress job, personal challenges and professional setbacks.

Flikken was a popular Flemish-Belgian TV series about a police-department located in Ghent. The show started in 1999 and ended recently on 19 April 2009. In the series, a team of six police officers solved various crimes, petty crimes as well as organised crime. The series always aimed at showing the policework in a realistic way - though a little personal drama was never far off. Of all the actors that came along during the ten seasons, only Mark Tijsmans and Ludo Hellinx appeared throughout the entire series. Flikken was produced by the VRT and broadcast on Belgian public channel Eén and TROS in the Netherlands. Flikken is very popular in Belgium and the Netherlands. The show has had very high ratings of up to 1.8 million viewers during the last season. Every year the VRT organises the Flikkendag, a family day where the public can meet the actors of the show. There are many games, demonstrations of the real police and other safety organisations and performances of singers. On 18 April 2009, a special farewell party was organised in Ghent, in which the actors and crew said goodbye to their fans - thousands had assembled to watch the show on stage.

Eccentric criminal psychology Professor T is a successful police advisor but his unpredictable nature drives his colleagues crazy. He has a brilliant mind, but also several psychological and neurological disorders which make him a complex and often difficult individual. However, aided by the trusty and understanding Annelies and Daan they form a team of high-powered experts that Antwerp Homicide Department rely on. After Season Two, however, things change radically. This is a thinking person's television series.

In this Flemish detective series, the Dutch title of which means in the act, notably "in flagrante delicto", a team of the Belgian (national) police lead by John Nauwelaerts investigates serious crimes, often against the clock as victims sometimes may still be in danger. Special attention is also given to the legally necessary, but sometimes frustrating, interaction with the judicial authorities, other police forces (this inefficiency required a major reform in reality), various experts and lawyers.

Each short story plays in the same setting with 2 characters, each on their side of the glass of the visitors area from a prison that them (and also the world) divides.

A television series about a charming, voluntary private detective who chases criminals and in the process tries to find himself.

A journalist traces a microchip found in baby food. A bank manager's mistake ensnares her in a much larger scheme. A family falls apart after the father goes missing. An insurance examiner investigates what happened to a border control veterinarian. This suspenseful Nordic noir drama enters the world of international money laundering through the stories of ordinary people caught up in the crimes.

Each episode takes the form of a broadcast made by a fictional pirate television station from a fictional small-minded village in East-Flanders, manned by a small number of VJs who introduce various sketches disguised as news or human interest reports. The style of both the program and its official website is deliberately amateurish. Most episodes involve a framing story which intertwines with certain sketches. Many characters are recurring and feature several catchphrases. The series sometimes includes sketches about current news, such as a baby found at a railway station, but also reacted to some negative critique, not taking itself too seriously.

After browsing through several porn websites, the four celebrity mothers become concerned about the content young people encounter online and what the consequences are. They decide to make an ethical porn film themselves, but first they have to investigate the intriguing world of porn.

During a scorching summer in a Belgian-Dutch border village, eight teenagers play games of discovery to break the listless monotony. They challenge each other and themselves and pretty soon, their sexual curiosity starts to blur the lines between right and wrong. As innocence is crushed in depraved games and sexual exploitation, the teenagers soon turn into ruthless predators.

Teacher Rob Dekoster is a good man, albeit a bit too frivolous and liberal with funds the local arts center's interim director. His wife Nelle, who sometimes abuses drugs, spoils his ingrate teenage stepdaughter Sandy, who is kind only to her sweet, mentally handicapped brother, Jimmy Vandevyver. After a class on sexual abuse from feminist teacher Lydia De Beule, Sandy pretends Rob abused her. Lydia, Rob's ex, eagerly helps her fabricate 'proof', which a female police commissioner eagerly believes. A frustrated judge (and father) shamelessly ignores the legal benefit of the doubt, even tricks Rob while in jail. Nelle discovers more then one sick truth.

12-year-old Gilles dreams of becoming a professional footballer in the Belgian national squad, playing as a Red Devil at the King Baudouin Stadium. Father Bert supports Gilles through thick and thin: he is not only Gilles' most loyal supporter, but also his personal trainer. But then, completely unexpectedly, Bert dies and Gilles' life collapses. Not only does he lose his father, his friend, his supporter and his trainer, there are also quite a few financial concerns coming out ...

Daniel is on a road trip through the American West with his teenage daughter Artis. They live in a golden bubble: camping and enjoying the landscape. But whenever people approach them, Artis runs od, leaving Daniel anxiously searching for her.

Five members of the Missing Persons Task Force investigate the mysterious disappearance of 17-year-old Evi. While unraveling the girl's troubled relationship with her parents, which leaves her father as one of the prime suspects, they discover that her life had recently taken a bizarre turn, with the teenager seen at several sex parties, receiving expensive gifts from a shadowy new friend. Was Evi the victim of a pimp, or did her father discover his daughter's double life and lose control?

Binti is a 12-year-old girl of Congolese origin who dreams of becoming a famous vlogger like her idol Tatyana. But when the police raid her home and try to deport her and her father Jovial, they are forced to flee. Binti meets Elias and befriends her. While Binti helps Elias to vlog about his 'save-the-okapi-club', she hatches the perfect plan: her dad has to marry Elias’s mom, so they can stay in Belgium.

A troubled teen grapples with high school rivals, romantic prospects and her parents' separation as she plans the perfect sweet 16 birthday party.

One of the Baba's disappears from the face of the earth and his friends find him back. In doing so, the Baba's take it on against the evil Cordelia Zen, witch is trying to deprive all children of their spontaneity and joy of life.

In Crazy About Ya, different characters meet. Sometimes their stories are closely interwoven, sometimes they just brush past each other. But sooner or later everyone runs into the hero of this story, Saint Jan. As a true sanctus ex machina he makes sure that in the end, they are all a bit crazier about each other again.

When his wife's murderer is released due to a procedural error, Luc will do everything in his power to stop it from happening... He is going to take justice into his own hands and will then compete with the constitutional state which let him down.

Hans is an imaginative young boy whose life is forever changed by a summer job as a postman. During his responsible task, delivering a registered letter to the wealthy Nathalie de Laat, the boy falls in love with her. He chases the girl and spies on her villa. But shy as he is, Hans is not able to communicate normally with the girl. This will change when he starts sending her daily anonymous love letters in the form of a fairy tale. Nathalie's interest is aroused, but how will Hans make himself known as the sender?

Two publishing brothers Vincent and Dennis Van Brakel are heading towards bankruptcy. But all changes when they receive two manuscripts.

The story of a self-help group of 4 people with a terminal illness, led by a therapist without experience.

When the nine year old Isra goes on a school trip, she winds up in a magical library. There, she finds out that a young boy is held captive in one of the books. In an attempt to save the boy, she starts an adventurous journey into a magical world.

A workaholic businessman provides well for his son San, but the emotional neglect since his mother died a few years ago grimly affects the shy knave. In San's heroic daydreams, a cool father leads him into modern Quichote exploits, yet even those tend to turn sour. Slipping, like his grades, into rebellion and school incidents, San, who just went on a fugue, becomes the prime suspect after a schoolgirl turned novice drug slut has been beaten into a coma. The clueless police and irresponsible school staff will probably blame San. Her friend, a regular drug harlot, is the worried-sick father's only lead to find San and the truth, and shamelessly exploits that.

A modern fairytale about ordinary feelings and extraordinary events. Aafke and Thalia are both 30 years old when they meet each other in a shoe shop. They both return there after having accidentally left the shop with each other’s new shoes. They spontaneously decide to trade lives with each other for 24 hours. Both are frustrated with their own lives and looking for the greener grass on the other side of the fence - only to arrive at the conclusion that the grass is always greener until you see it from close by…

A voice-over. A car chase. A bank. Money. An old lady. Bonnie and Clyde. Guns. Bodies on the floor. Old factory. People running. Dogs barking. Shots in the dark. Life jump. Body hit. Breathtaking. Tongue kissing. Flash back. Shoot-out. In disorder of appearence.