Bevergem

After directing short films which were successful in many festivals (Mont Blanc was selected for the short films competition in Cannes in 2013), Gilles Coulier started working on his first long feature (Cargo, scheduled for shooting this year), but chose to do a TV series in the meantime. The Natives (2015) sees Freddy De Vadder, a famous stand-up comedian, fleeing to a (fictional) Flemish village called Bevergem for mysterious reasons (one explanation may lie in the trunk of his car). Freddy is the quiet and rough type; the residents are softly extravagant, from the shopkeeper who lost his mother to the posh fan who just won the lottery. Absurd things ensue.
Coulier co-wrote the series with several stand-up comedians, who shaped the characters and fill the series with a very specific mix of deadpan and warm humour.