Director
At the top of Mont Ventoux hangs a huge poster with the names of all the cyclists who won Tour de France stages to the summit of this legendary “Giant of Provence”. But which one of these winners is the greatest climber of them all? The documentary feature The King of Mont Ventoux puts five cycling heroes against each other in an unprecedented virtual race beyond the bounds of time: Belgian ‘Cannibal’ Eddy Merckx (1970), Frenchmen ‘Jeff’ Bernard (1987) and Richard ‘the Lionheart’ Virenque (2002), the Italian ‘Pirate’ Marco Pantani (2000) and Spanish climber ‘Juanma’ Gárate (2009). Starting together at the foot of the giant, they battle it out over the 21-km ascent along a winding forest road to the lunar-like summit of the ‘Bald Mountain’; a gruelling one-hour test of endurance and strength. The first to reach the summit is crowned King of Mont Ventoux.
Casting
Romeo, a lovelorn Roman musician in his 40s with 20 years since his only hit, consults a fortuneteller who predicts he'll find love and money with a foreign singer named for a flower. In Brussels he meets Marguerite, an older chanteuse who interprets Jacques Brel and loves her yappy dog.
Assistant Director
In the 1890s, Father Adolf Daens goes to Aalst, a textile town where child labor is rife, pay and working conditions are horrible, the poor have no vote, and the Catholic church backs the petite bourgeoisie in oppressing workers. He writes a few columns for the Catholic paper, and soon workers are listening and the powerful are in an uproar. He's expelled from the Catholic party, so he starts the Christian Democrats and is elected to Parliament. After Rome disciplines him, he must choose between two callings, as priest and as champion of workers. In subplots, a courageous young woman falls in love with a socialist and survives a shop foreman's rape; children die; prelates play billiards.
