Britt Raes Talks Adapting Berlinale-Winning Short ‘Luce and the Rock’ Into Series for VRT’s Ketnet and New Wave of Flemish Animators 

Three years after winning Best European Short Film for Children and Young Audiences at the Berlinale with “Luce and the Rock,” Flemish director Britt Raes is adapting the film into a series consisting of 39 seven-minute episodes for Ketnet, the children’s arm of Belgian broadcaster VRT. Belgium’s Thuristar produces in co-production with France’s La Cabane and France Télévisions. Cake Distribution handles international sales. 

This series of colorful tales features Luce, a curious 6-year-old who, every morning, opens her little bedroom window to see what’s happening in the Lovely Land. Every day is a new adventure Luce shares with her best friend, a giant Rock. Together, they explore the unexpected, meet surprising creatures and discover other points of view. In a universe brimming with visual and narrative creativity, each episode is an opportunity for Luce to take a different look at her world.

“After the film played festivals, we still really loved the characters and the story,” Raes tells Variety ahead of Mipcom. “It’s not always the case when you work on a project for so long but we were still in love with them and I wanted to create more stories. Alongside my producer, we pitched it around.” The project landed on Ketnet in 2023 and secured VAF funding shortly thereafter, which allowed the team to go into production with the goal of working on the episodes through spring 2026.

French director Mathilde Prévost joined Raes on the project as a co-director, with the Belgian animator feeling “thankful” for the support. “This is my first time working on something bigger than a short film, so it’s great to have someone with more experience. We’re leaning on each other to make up for a stronger base.”

Speaking about the short seven-minute runtime for each episode, Raes says it was a decision directly related to the target audience. “It allows us to tell a lot of cute little stories while introducing several new characters. There’s a certain freedom to the short format that is very different from a feature film, where you have to set a story up and keep people involved. Here, we’re looking at three-year-plus, so attention retention is completely different. It’s also great for me because it doesn’t feel that big of a jump from working on short films.”

Thuristar producer Perrine Gauthier emphasizes that the production banner wants to “offer young audiences high-quality and meaningful programs.” “‘Luce and the Rock’ is the perfect demonstration of this intention and a true feel-good series, which we feel the world very much needs right now, starting with children.” 

Asked about the animation industry in Belgium and Flanders more specifically, Raes says she has seen a “big evolution” in the decade since she graduated. “There are a lot of people who have ambition and want to tell stories and are looking for ways to reach that audience. Within the structure of our funding system for series, you need a broadcaster on board, so we are very dependent on them. It’s not just about people having ideas, drive and ambition. The market has to be open for them.”

“I’ve been teaching at some universities in Belgium over the last few years and have noticed there are more and more women studying animation,” adds the director. “There are more people interested and, most importantly, role models for women in the industry like Emma De Swaef, who directed ‘The House’ for Netflix. That’s quite a big thing to have on your resume. It’s incredible for someone young to see that someone from Flanders can reach that.”

“Luce and the Rock” is created by Britt Raes, directed by Britt Raes and Mathilde Prévost and produced by Perrine Gauthier for Thuristar in co-production with La Cabane, France Televisions and VRT-Ketnet. The series is supported by the CNC, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), the Procirep and the Angoa, deAuteurs and Hiroshima Artist in Residence 2024.