Britt Raes adapts short film ‘Luce and the Rock’ into a series for Ketnet
Three years after winning the Best European Short Film for Children and Young Audiences at the Berlinale with ‘Luce and the Rock’, Flemish director Britt Raes adapted the film into a series consisting of 39 seven-minute episodes for Ketnet, the children’s division of the Belgian broadcaster VRT. The Belgian Thuristar produces in co-production with the French La Cabane and France Télévisions. Cake Distribution handles international sales.
This series of colorful stories follows Luce, a curious six-year-old girl who opens her small bedroom window every morning to see what’s happening in the Beautiful Land. Every day is a new adventure that Luce shares with her best friend, a giant rock. Together they explore the unexpected, meet surprising creatures and discover different points of view. In a universe bursting with visual and narrative creativity, every episode is an opportunity for Luce to look at her world from a different perspective.
“After the film played at festivals, we still loved the characters and the story,” says Raes Variety before 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. Together with my producer, we pitched it.” The project ended up on Ketnet in 2023 and received VAF financing shortly afterwards, allowing the team to go into production with the aim of working on the episodes until the spring of 2026.
French director Mathilde Prévost joined Raes as co-director on the project, with the Belgian animator “grateful” 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 create a stronger foundation.”
Speaking about the short seven-minute running time 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 and introduce several new characters at the same time. There’s a certain freedom in the short format, which is very different from a feature film, where you have to build a story and keep people engaged. Here we’re looking at over three years, so keeping attention is completely different. It’s also great for me because it’s not that big of a leap for me to work on short films.”
Thuristar producer Perrine Gauthier emphasizes that the production banner “wants to offer young audiences high-quality and meaningful programming.” “’Luce and the Rock’ is the perfect demonstration of this intention and a real feel-good series, which we believe the world needs right now, starting with children.”
When asked about the animation industry in Belgium and Flanders more specifically, Raes says she has seen a “big evolution” in the ten years 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 series financing system, you need a broadcaster on board, so we are very dependent on that. It’s not just about people with ideas, drive and ambition. The market has to be open to them.”
“I have taught at a number of universities in Belgium in recent years and have noticed that more and more women are studying animation,” the director adds. “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 something to have on your CV. It’s incredible for someone so young to see that someone from Flanders can achieve that.”
“Luce and the Rock” was 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 Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF), the Procirep and the Angoa, deAuteurs and Hiroshima Artist in Residence 2024.
