BRUGES/MALDEGEM - A first in Grand Hotel Casselbergh last Friday: the spacious hotel in the center of Bruges serves for one day as a base for filming an international short film. Young filmmaker Charlotte Verminck (24) from Maldegem is at the helm: without a degree in film, but with tons of enthusiasm. The twenty-something taught herself the tricks of the trade and already went to America for an internship. And whether her first film tastes like more? “I would love to go to America again.”
Celina Cazzetta
Friday, April 26th 2024 at 17:18
A hotel in perfect order from A to Z, high imposing ceilings, beautiful chandeliers and a more than chic interior: Charlotte Verminck immediately fell in love with the Bruges hotel. The 24-year-old filmmaker had been looking for a long time for the perfect setting for her short film Mind of Thougths and finally found it - after some negotiating - at the Grand Hotel Casselbergh. “The hotel doesn’t normally allow film shoots,” Charlotte explains. “But when I was allowed to briefly pitch my film again, I finally got the green light.”
Social theme
Indeed, the short film deals with the powerful influence of our thoughts on our daily lives. "The film brings an important message about today's mental health issues," says the filmmaker. "That is why the management finally decided to still make the hotel available for some important scenes from the film."
Charlotte and her team were given a total of one day of shooting at the hotel. That meant a very clear script, even tighter deadlines and some healthy stress from time to time. The lounge area is primarily used during the filming day, but hotel guests are allowed to experience as little disruption as possible. And that's quite a job for the team. In total, more than 50 cast and crew members are working on the film.
American dream
For Charlotte, it’s her first real film and hopefully it won’t stop there. “My dream is to move to America and continue building my career as a screenwriter-director there.” And Charlotte is living proof that not having an appropriate degree shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your dreams. “When I was 10 years old, I was already making film montages,” Charlotte explains. “My classmates then played the lead roles.”
Seven years later, Charlotte ended up working as a video artist and creative director for Ozark Henry. The duo eventually stomped out the then-creative arthouse SOH. After that, the ambitious young woman traveled to the United States to delve further into the film world. An internship at a high-end production company, jobs as an assistant on some international film productions before ending - for now anyway - in... Flanders. “I will never forget my Flemish roots.”