CZAR

Koen completed his film studies at RITS and in 1999 founded CZAR Brussels with fellow director Joe Vanhoutteghem.

Over the years, he has won numerous international awards, including 8 Lions at the 2012 Cannes Festival for his TNT ‘Push to Add Drama‘. This highly acclaimed film won over 50 awards, has reached over 60 million clicks, and is the most awarded Belgian campaign in history.

Koen’s Hornbach film ‘And What Will Remain of You’ for the German market picked up numerous awards at international award festivals including Epica, New York Film Festival, ADC, DWP and Gold at The Golden Award of Montreux.

Besides his successful advertising career, Mortier has also internationally toured with his feature films. His first three films all premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. His first feature ‘Ex Drummer’ (2007) also premiered at Rotterdam and won several international awards. His next film ’22nd of May’ picked up awards at the Leeds, Mexico and Baghdad International Film Festivals. ‘Un Ange’ (2018) also made the international film festival circuit. In 2022 Koen directed ‘Voices Of Liberation’ an 11-part Netflix docu-series on World War II. His most recent feature film ‚Skunk‘ (2023) won Best Film at Just Film, the youth sub-festival at the Tallinn Black Nights, and is currently competing and touring in several other international festivals.

Under the alias of Lionel Goldstein he directs films with Joe Vanhoutteghem. Due to their love of the absurd, they are constantly pushing the boundaries, winning international awards including a Golden Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival for the FRISK and XBOX campaigns for Wieden+Kennedy London and BBH London respectively. Most recently, Lionel Goldstein won a Gold and Bronze Cannes Lion for their spot AXE „The Robbery” and a Silver Lion for their „Filmfest Gent 2023“ commercial. In total they have picked up more than 11 Cannes Lions.