Answers to your wtFOCK questions, from a subjective Belgian.
Where can I watch wtFOCK?
You can either watch it on the official website (geoblocked) or on other websites, like our darling host All Of Skam.
What language do they speak in wtFOCK? Is it Dutch? It doesn't sound the same as SKAM NL?
It's Flemish, a dialect language of Dutch, spoken in the Northern part of Belgium. The dialect is heavily influenced by the French as well as the English language and has duller, more flat sounds than Dutch spoken in the Netherlands.
How come wtFOCK has hardcoded Dutch subtitles?
Belgians subtitle most to all film or television projects. There are multiple reasons for that: it's an extra aid for the deaf / hard-hearing community, there are a lot of different dialects to understand in the country and foreign shows aren't dubbed. Even live programs, like the news, have Dutch subtitles if you press ‘888’ on the tv.
It's a huge benefit to learning other languages as well. Most Flemish people know how to speak English at a very early age. And although,most shows or movies for kids might be dubbed, plot lines of video games or YouTube videos are often not translated. The influence of English on Flemish is thus greater than one might think.
Why don't we get a lot of behind the scenes pictures or interviews from cast/crew themselves, not like the media attention surrounding SKAM France? Is that deliberate?
Yes, it's deliberate. There are a few reasons for this.
First, it’s not really a thing in Belgium to share or talk about a creative project in a very elaborate way. Actors are considered celebrities on the red carpet or in gossip tabloids, but keep on living their own lives and might even silence the press on some stuff. They do interviews or news items if it's considered truly special (a long awaited film, a new cinematic style, international acknowledgement, …). Yet, even then it’s not really a huge behind the scenes thing. Bloopers may roll at the credits of a movie, but it’s not the standard.
Second, it was the exact same with the original SKAM. Julie Andem really tried to keep the actors out of sight, to protect them and give them privacy. And also because:
Third, it's all part of the secrecy. wtFOCK is known exclusively by young people. If you didn’t hear about it from your peers or stumbled upon it accidentally, you wouldn't know about the show. It’s their strength, because they hit the demographic perfectly. The actors even have a clause in their contract not to talk about the show or even mention its name, to keep it all 'hush hush'.
That's why I advocate fans to not dig into the actor’s lives, since Belgium doesn't have a paparazzi / typical Hollywood fan culture. Let the actors live their lives the way they are accustomed to. Don’t make a big deal out of it.
What's that WAT WAT website they keep referring to?
WAT WAT is an initiative that consist of more than 70 organizations, who want to inform and direct young people to advice or help. By joining forces under one platform, they prevent fragmentation of initiatives, websites and campaigns. WAT WAT thus strengthens the youth communication of numerous organizations. wtFOCK has started to work with them during season 2, for a campaign surrounding consent, sexual assault and what to do in case something happens. Now they refer to the website after each clip, to answer all sorts of questions.
Is it forbidden to do explicit sex scenes before the age of 18 in Belgium? Did they wait with Willem De Schryver to shoot the hotel scene in season 3?
See, I’m not a media specialist or a law practitioner. I don’t know what’s legal or illegal in the world of cinema. I would love to deliver a clear cut answer, but I simply don’t have one.
I do know Belgium and its history with child abusers (don’t want to go into this, please Google it). So the country has one of the most complex and extensive law systems, when it comes to children, actors and any form of nudity, pornography or sexuality. Going as far as minors, who can get punished by spreading (their own) sexually tinted or nude pictures. There are boundaries set to protect the child at all times.
Now, in the Belgian movie industry, there seem to be multiple movies/tv shows where nudity or sexual content was shown, even when the actor was a minor. Examples are the Oscar nominated movie ‘Girl’ or the movie ‘Bo’. In interviews, they’ve stated to have been 15-16 year old during the whole process. So I can assume that in media, there are a different set of laws concerning minors.
I can only state that I believe without a doubt, that if Willem was/wasn’t a minor, the creators for wtFOCK respected his boundaries, how he might have felt at that time as well as followed the Belgian law to the letter. Because if there is one thing that Belgians don’t laugh about, it’s this.
Are LGBT+ topics touched upon in Belgian media or was wtFOCK season 3 kind of groundbreaking?
Oh, there are. In terms of depicting LGBT+ couples on tv, there are surely (side) characters present in day time soaps, teen and drama shows. Not that often as some American ones and not always every sexuality or gender expression, but it’s slowly getting there. In the soap 'Thuis', for example, we’ve had a transgender m-t-f as well as gay storylines. But a LGBT+ main in a teen show, that’s something that still relatively new. Especially with the more sexual scenes and depictions of love, internalized homophobia and gay bashing. So we still have a long way to go.
Noteworthy, Bram Renders (writer wtFOCK) was also the writer/showrunner of W817 - a show set in the late 90s/early 00s - which had a homosexual male as well as some mild hints of bisexuality, open/experimental relationships, gender roles, ... . It was quite revolutionary for the time period. Broadcasted on the children channel ‘Ketnet’ and still in reruns today, it holds up just as perfectly. The depiction of the gay character wasn't a coming-out-story, a dramatic sobfest or dark background as some of the ‘typical’ LGBT-storyline during that time. On the contrary, it’s rather a fun, comical and lovely image of a guy who does his thing, studies physio at uni and just happens to be gay.
When are the characters' birthdays and what are their horoscopes?
Senne: 16th of January - Capricorn
Jens & Milan: 19th of January - Capricorn
Zoë: 15th of February - Aquarius
Jana: 22nd of February - Pisces
Yasmina: 8th of March - Pisces
Britt: 17th of April - Aries
Lisa: 22nd of April - Taurus
Sander: 27th of April - Taurus
Marie: 30th of April - Taurus
Keisha: 4th of May - Taurus
Luka: 24th of May - Gemini
Amber: 27th of June - Cancer
Noor: 27th of July - Leo
Robbe: 20th of August - Leo
Aaron: 9th of September - Virgo
Luca: 11th of September - Virgo
Moyo: 1st of October - Libra
Kato, Gill, Viktor, Max: -unknown-