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At presstime, we are expecting many directors and/or producers, whose
films are included in Transcendent Realism: New and Old Cinema from
Belgium, to be present for their screenings.
Presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the International
Relations Commissariat of the French-Speaking Community of Belgium and
Flanders Image - the film promotion office of the Flemish-Speaking
Community of Belgium with the support of the Consulate General of
Belgium in New York.
Why transcendent realism? Because the best Belgian filmmakers, either
French or Flemish, are passionately committed to realism, with a firm
belief in the power of the camera to discover basic truths about the way
we all live, and to allow those details to yield their own unique and
timeless beauty. This sampling of films from the 60s up through the
present offers rich and persuasive evidence of a vital national cinema
in thriving health. Some of the names in this program, like Chantal
Akerman, the Dardenne brothers, André Delvaux and Jaco van Dormael will
be familiar to you. Others, like Frans Buyens, Paul Meyer, Boris Lehman
and Harry Kümel will probably be new to you, or at least to many of you.
But the truth is that every film in this program, known or unknown, is a
gem, from Meyer's extraordinary DÉJÀ S'ENVOLE LA FLEUR MAIGRE to the
program of eye-popping animation by Raoul Servais (which offers a
different form of transcendence!). We look forward to seeing you at this
wonderful series of films from Belgium.
Promotional materials courtesy of tv5 Etats-Unis
(1-800-ok-cable), America's only French language channel.
HOP
Dominique Standaert, Belgium, 2002; 104m
The feature debut of Dominique Standaert, HOP represents an unusually
gentle handling of emotionally fraught material. Justin (Keïta Kalomba)
and his father Dieudonné (Ansou Diedhou) are illegal immigrants from
Burundi living in Brussels. One night, during a soccer match between
Belgium and Sweden, Justin rigs up the cable feed from downstairs so he
and his father can watch the Congolese Emile M'Penza in all his glory.
When the neighbors come up to protest, they throw the TV out the window
and send Dieudonné on the lam; he's caught by the police and immediately
slated for deportation. Justin hooks up with a one-time anarchist (the
wonderful Jan Decleir) and his girlfriend (Antje De Boeck) to fight the
system and get his father back. HOP has a lovely swing to it, and a
genuine sense of uplift. It's also the first Belgian film shot in 24fps
digital video, and it looks beautiful.
Thurs Nov 7: 7*
Fri Nov 8: 3:30
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
FROM THE BRANCHES DROPS THE WITHERED BLOSSOM / DÉJÀ S'ENVOLE LA FLEUR MAIGRE
Paul Meyer, Belgium, 1960; 85m
In the late 50s, filmmaker Paul Meyer was commissioned by the Belgian
Ministry of Education to make a short film about the children of
immigrants in the mining region of the Borinage. When Meyer arrived in
the region, he saw a picture that was quite different and far less rosy
than the one painted by the Ministry. He changed his approach, his
commission was revoked, and Meyer financed the film himself and spent
the rest of his life paying back his creditors. There's passion, both
political and cinematic, in every frame of this extraordinary docudrama,
which is made up of scenes in the lives of Italian immigrants, some
arriving, others leaving, who are left helpless as the local mine shuts
down. Virtually unknown until its rediscovery in the early 90s, DÉJÀ S'ENVOLE LA FLEUR MAIGRE could stand alongside the very best works of
Italian neorealism. It's one of the great lost films of the 60s.
Preceded by
Klinkaart
Paul Meyer, Belgium, 1956; 20m
We'll also be showing Meyer's debut, the Flemish language short
Klinkaart, about a young woman's brutal initiation during her first day
of work in a brickyard in 19th-century Belgium. It's a masterpiece, with
a gravity and a sense of detail that easily bears comparison with Robert Bresson.
Fri Nov 8: 1
Wed Nov 13: 1 & 9:30
WILD BLUE, NOTES FOR SEVERAL VOICES / WILD BLUE, NOTES À QUELQUES VOIX
Thierry Knauff, Belgium, 2000; 68m
"It seems to me that there is a permanent tension between a world that
we know to be rife with extremes of intolerance and violence and, at the
same time, a world of profound beauty despite the prevailing horror."
This tension is what drives all of Thierry Knauff's dense, rigorous,
ravishing films. Knauff has more or less invented his own form, halfway
between documentary and fiction, between the essay and the poem. His
black-and-white movies look - and sound, because he has an ear for sound
montage as sharp as any DJ's - like no one else's. WILD BLUE, his first
feature, was seven years in the making and takes place all over the
world: it's a quiet, concentrated contemplation of the world we live in,
in all its beauty and terror.
Preceded by
Gbanga-Tita
Thierry Knauff, Belgium, 1994; 7m
Gbanga-Tita is nothing more, or less, than a 7m recording, in one shot,
of Lengé, a Baka pygmy from Cameroon, and the last storyteller among his
tribe.
Preceded by
Anton Webern
Thierry Knauff, Belgium, 1991; 26m
Anton Webern, which may be Knauff's masterpiece, is a half-hour
meditation on the life of one of the greatest composers of the 20th
century, a collage of stray sounds, images and sensations that aims to
be, and often is, as stirring as Webern's music.
Fri Nov 8: 6:15*
Sat Nov 16: 6:15
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
STRASS
Vincent Lannoo, Belgium, 2001; 86m
Made in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Dogme 95
manifesto, STRASS is a hilarious portrait of the inner workings of a
fictitious Brussels acting school, where the rampantly egotistical (and
libidinal) instructor stomps all over the tender sensibilities of his
students. A film crew arrives at the school that serves as the home of
the Open Door Theater Method, where they're greeted with a smile by its
originator and practitioner, Pierre Radowsky (Pierre Lekeux). As the
documentary proceeds, the instances of autocratic screaming fits and
student seductions increase, and so does the atmosphere of paranoia. For
anyone who's ever taken an acting class or been torn apart by their
teacher in the name of art, this is mandatory viewing.
Preceded by
The Twice-a-Month Gang
Hugues Hausman; 6m
Fri Nov 8: 9*
Tue Nov 12: 1:30
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
OLIVETTI 82
Rudi Vandenbossche, Belgium, 2001; 88m
Rudi Vandenbossche's moody, almost gothic adaptation of Eriek Verpaele's
novel is part police procedural, part historical inquiry, and part
psychological thriller. On Christmas Eve, a famous writer named Bernard
(Dirk Roofthooft) is picked up for questioning as a murder suspect.
Little by little, he types out his awful, tangled, ultimately tragic
history on an Olivetti typewriter, and the film is constructed in a
puzzle of flashbacks, beginning with Bernard's unhappy childhood with
his mother after the murder of his beautiful and beloved little sister.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this unusual film, which operates
on a number of levels, is the way it deals with Jewish identity in
post-war Europe.
Preceded by
The Thread
Lieven Van Baelen & Jan De Coster; 12 m
Sat Nov 9: 1:30*
Wed Nov 27: 4:30 & 9
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
THE PUBLISHERS
Robbe de Hert, Belgium, 2000; 110m
Based on the novel "Soft Soap" by Willem Elsschot, the latest film from
veteran director and creator of the Antwerp-based Fugitive Cinema Robbe
de Hert, THE PUBLISHERS is a hard-edged period comedy of dog-eat-dog
capitalism in the industrial 30s. Larmaans (Koen de Bouw) is trying to
make a living and support his family. When his mother dies, he needs to
have her cremated but can't afford the expense, so he turns to the most
successful man he knows, the charming Boorman (Mike Verdrengh), who is
all too happy to help out. He introduces Larmaans to his "business,"
which is fleecing the owners of assorted businesses by writing feature
articles on them in his snazzy industrial magazine and then strongly
suggesting that they buy copies in bulk to distribute to potential
clients. Boorman finally meets his match with a factory owner named
Lauwereyssen (Willeke van Ammelrooy). A buoyant comedy with sharp period
details and an unusually caustic tone.
Sat Nov 9: 3:45
Sat Nov 16: 3:45
MEISJE
Dorothée van den Berghe, Belgium, 2002; 93m
There's a strong feminist strain in Belgian cinema, and it's displayed
to full advantage in this tenderly naturalistic study of three women
during turbulent moments of definitive change in their lives. Muriel
(Charlotte Van den Eynde) is a 20-year-old girl from the country who
leaves her boyfriend and her factory job and goes to Brussels in search
of a life of her own. She rooms with the affable 37-year old Laura (Els
Dottermans), who has a chaotic love life, but finds her desire to have a
child growing day by day. Muriel's mother Martha (Frieda Pittoors)
worries about her daughter from afar, and is reminded of her own dreams
as a young girl. Dorothée van den Berghe's fresh and surprising movie
took one of the top prizes at this year's Locarno Film Festival.
Preceded by
Papa Trumpet
by Evelyn Verschoore; 8m
Sat Nov 9: 6:30*
Tue Nov 12: 3:30
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
LES ENFANTS DE L'AMOUR
Geoffrey Enthoven, Belgium, 2001; 90m
Geoffrey Enthoven originally planned his searing and scrupulously
realistic film as a documentary about divorce and its effect on the
children involved. But the family who had originally agreed to take part
withdrew, and Enthoven and his collaborators decided to use their
research to make a drama. Nathalie Stas is Nathalie, a young mother who
is alone with three children by two different fathers. The film takes
place over a weekend, when the children go visit their respective
fathers - Aurelie, the daughter, would rather be with her ex-stepfather,
who is hated by her brother Michael. A tough movie about a tough
subject, and a very well-observed one as well.
Preceded by
The Sugarbowl
Hilde Van Mieghem; 14m
Sat Nov 9: 9:15*
Sat Nov 23: 1:30
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
TOTO THE HERO / TOTO LE HÉROS
Jaco van Dormael, Belgium, 1991; 91m
An audience favorite at the 1991 New York and Cannes film festival, this
wildly inventive film marks the brilliant feature film debut of director
Jaco van Dormael. Throwing chronology and realism to the winds, he
condenses the entire life of his hero, a man who compensates for his
uneventful existence by imaging himself the heroic secret agent Toto,
into a dazzling collage of real and imaginary events.
Preceded by
Walking on the wild side
Dominique Abel & Fiona Gordon; 13m
Sun Nov 10: 1:30
Sat Nov 23: 5:30
CLOUDS: LETTERS TO MY SON / NUAGES LETTRES À MON FILS
Marion Hänsel, Belgium, 2001; 76m
Marion Hänsel's beautiful film is composed of nothing more, or less,
than images of clouds in the sky, "the biggest screen in the world," and
letters that Hänsel has written to her son, from his birth up to the
present (read by Catherine Deneuve). The clouds come in all shapes,
sizes and colors - there are clouds glimpsed during a car trip through
Belgium, clouds over a Scottish lake, clouds in Iceland, Namibia and
Madagascar, clouds painted by Breugel, Magritte, Turner and Delacroix.
"I hope that this film will appeal to the senses and not to reason, to
suggestion, imagination and to dreams." NUAGES is a quietly rapturous experience.
Preceded by
Musique de tables
Thierry De Mey; 8m
Sun Nov 10: 3:45& Wed Nov 13: 3:15 & 7:30
IRAN VEILED APPEARANCES / IRAN SOUS LE VOILE DES APPARENCES
Thierry Michel, Belgium, 2002; 90m
Thierry Michel, whose previous film, Mobutu, King of Zaire, was in the
1999 New York Film Festival, is one tough filmmaker, unafraid of taking
on subject matter that is not so much controversial as explosive. His
new film is a brave look at fundamentalism in Iran, and offers a vision
that is strikingly different from what we're now used to in Iranian
cinema. "Is the Islamic revolution just one more episode for this
5,000-year-old country half the size of Europe?" Michel asks. IRAN VEILED APPEARANCES suggests some troubling answers. A disturbing film,
at times a frightening one. And not to be missed.
Sun Nov 10: 6*
Fri Nov 15: 1 & 5:30
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
FROM THE OTHER SIDE / DE L'AUTRE CÔTÉ
Chantal Akerman, Belgium, 2002; 103m
The latest film from one of the greatest filmmakers in the world today.
Continuing in the vein of her earlier D'est and Sud, FROM THE OTHER SIDE
is a movie about a place. Or rather two places: the place that people
want to escape from, and the place they try to escape to. Akerman films
the testimony of people on both sides of the Mexico/Arizona border - the
people waiting for their chance to cross the desert or the mountains,
the families of those who have lost their lives trying to get through,
the U.S. sheriff who condemns the INS's clampdown on the flow of
illegals into the country, with its many casualities, as "a bad strategy
and a bad plan." Akerman's ineffable mixture of patience, artistic rigor
and outrage is evident in
every frame of this powerful outcry against injustice. Preceded by
Trains de plaisir
Henri Storck; 8m
NOTE: Chantal Akerman is scheduled to appear to answer questions after the Friday Nov. 15 3 pm screening and to introduce and answer questions at the Friday Nov. 15 7:45 pm screening.
Sun Nov 10: 8:30
Fri Nov 15: 3 & 7:45
THE MAN WHO HAD HIS HAIR CUT SHORT / DE MAN DIE ZIJN HAAR KORT LIET KNIPPEN
André Delvaux, Belgium, 1965; 94m
André Delvaux, certainly one of the greatest directors in the history of
Belgian cinema, is known here primarily for his early 70s films like
Belle and Rendez-vous à Bray. But this Flemish film, his first feature
and a chillingly precise adaptation of Johan Daisne's novel, was the one
that put him on the map, and it remains one of his greatest works, with
an ominous vision that anticipates more recent films like Clean Shaven
or Spider. Here's Delvaux's own synopsis: "How Govert Miereveld, a
barrister and teacher in a Flemish town, conceives a secret love for his
young pupil Fran, an inaccessible beauty who will soon disappear. How
the imperceptible process of Govert's mental disturbance is later
accentuated by the shock of an autopsy he is forced to attend. How he
recognizes Fran - or believes he recognizes her, and what ensues. How we
will never know whether he really killed her."
Preceded by
Inasmuch
Wim Vandekeybus; 14m
Wed Nov 13: 5:15
Sat Nov 16: 1:30
Thurs Nov 14: 1:30
A FOR ADRIENNE / A COMME ADRIENNE
Boris Lehman, Belgium, 2000; 115m
Boris Lehman may be the world's greatest autobiographical filmmaker,
interweaving his multi-faceted life (author, musician, lecturer, sports
enthusiast, producer, actor) into his artisanal cinema and his cinema
into his life for the past 40 years, and creating one beautiful fabric
in the process. He refers to this film, which he made in 2000, as "a
gift. A gift for a lady. For Adrienne," who is 77 years old, "the age
limit for reading Tintin comics," and who has led an extraordinary life,
a sizable portion of it spent in Iran, in the city of Meshed, where she
learned Persian, collected the folk tales of the province of Khorasan,
and later translated them. Lehman's tribute to his lively subject is
split into seven lessons - swimming, driving, cooking, sewing, botany,
savoir-vivre and, finally, cinema. A wonderful film about a remarkable
woman, and a good introduction to a filmmaker whose work you should get
to know.
Thurs Nov 14: 3:45* & 9*
*Filmmakers/actors will be present to introduce and discuss their films.
MALPERTUIS / MALPERTUIS: HISTOIRE D'UNE MAISON MAUDITE
Harry Kümel, Belgium, 1971; 124m
Director Harry Kümel's amazing adaptation of Jean Ray's novel is a
swirling baroque extravaganza, as delirious as it is unsettling. The
great Orson Welles is Cassavius, the old and ailing lord of the ominous,
mazelike manor known as Malpertuis. Within the walls of Malpertuis,
Cassavius is keeping a collection of fallen Greek Gods whom he plans to
pair up with each of his heirs, thus creating a race of Gods on earth.
One of the best "evil house" movies in the history of cinema, with Susan
Hampshire (of The Forsyte Saga fame) as no less than three goddesses,
Michael Bouquet, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Mathieu Carrière and Sylvie Vartan.
MALPERTUIS will be presented in a gorgeous new print, beautifully
restored by the Belgian Cinémathèque.
Sat Nov 16: 9
Sun Nov 17: 5:30
 THURSDAY WE SHALL SING LIKE SUNDAY / JEUDI ON CHANTERA COMME DIMANCHE
Luc de Heusch, Belgium, 1967; 98m
Luc de Heusch is primarily known as a documentarian, and this is his one
fiction feature. It's fresh, spontaneous and easily as relevant as the
day it came out in 1967. In fact, watching this lovely movie about a
young trucker named Jean trying to build a life with his shopgirl
fiancée Nicole, you might get the feeling that you're watching a lost
classic. De Heusch puts the lures and pitfalls of consumer society in
very human terms, and he has the sharpest documentary eye, situating his
action in real department stores, bars, restaurants and, most
unforgettably, in the studio of a TV game show. Bernard Fresson is Jean,
the trucker - you will recognize him from many films of the 60s and 70s,
including La Guerre est finie, Z, and The Lady in the Car with Glasses
and a Gun. With the lovely Marie-France Boyer as Nicole. Music by the
great Georges Delerue.
Preceded by
Bzz
Benoît Feroumont; 10m
Sun Nov 17: 8
Fri Nov 22: 2:30 & 7
VILLA DES ROSES
Frank van Passel, Belgium, 2002; 114m
The talented Frank van Passel's new film is a rich and colorful
adaptation of Willem Elschot's classic novel. The setting is a Parisian
boarding house in 1913. A new maid named Louise, played by the ever
lovely Julie Delpy, arrives for work. Unsurprisingly, every man in the
place is especially nice to her, but she falls prey to the charms of a
man named Grünewald (Shaun Dingwall), who quickly loses interest in her
once she has fallen deeply in love with him and become pregnant with his
child. A wonderful period piece, evocative of a Europe poised right
on the brink of war.
Tue Nov 19: 9
Wed Nov 20: 1
Fri Nov 22: 4:45
THE PROMISE / LA PROMESSE
Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium, 1996; 90m
Fifteen-year-old Igor helps his father run an illegal immigrant labor
network. Their "innocent" wrongdoings go sour when an African laborer
falls off a scaffolding and Igor obeys his father's order to leave him
there to die. Conflicted by his feelings of duty and affection for his
father and by his guilt and commitment to the immigrant's surviving
family, Igor faces a decision that will change his world forever.
Directors Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne have cast their urgent story with
richly drawn characters who struggle to find their place against the
backdrop of a radically changing Europe. THE PROMISE was selected for
the 1996 New York Film Festival.
Preceded by
The Last Dream / Le dernier rêve
Emmanuel Jespers; 15m
Wed Nov 20: 7
Thurs Nov 21: 4:15
Sat Nov 23: 9:30
LESS DEAD THAN THE OTHERS / MINDER DOOD DAN DE ANDEREN
Frans Buyens, Belgium, 1992; 100m
Frans Buyens's moving and inventive film is based on his own
autobiographical novel, which deals in the most sensitive terms possible
with the subject of euthanasia. In this case, of his own parents.
Frans's brother is caught in a fire during a party, and dies from his
burns. His parents, beautifully played by Dora van der Groen and Senne
Rouffaer, never recover from the shock - the father almost literally
languishes away from heartbreak, the mother contracts cancer. Both want
to die at peace. It took years for Buyens to get his film off the
ground, and the effort shows: it's a work of terrible, beautiful simplicity.
Preceded by
Tempus Fugit
Sabine Van der Linden & Hugo Pauwels; 7 m
Wed Nov 20: 9:15
Thurs Nov 21: 2
Fri Nov 22: 9:15
ANIMATED FILMS BY RAOUL SERVAIS
approx. 120m
The story goes that Raoul Servais became obsessed with animation when
his father screened Felix the Cat shorts for him on a 9.5mm projector.
From there, he decided what he wanted to do with the rest of his life,
looked for a school of animation and found none, taught himself (and
built his own movie camera with a cigar box!), subsequently made many
glorious films that have been lauded all over the world, and devoted the
rest of his time to preaching the glories of animation with evangelical
fervor, and to passing on his knowledge to others as a teacher. We're
happy to present Servais' personal selection of his shorts, including
Chromophobia (1966), Sirene (1968), Goldframe (1969), To Speak or Not to
Speak (1970), Operation X-70 (1971), Pegasus (1973), Harpya (1979),
Nocturnal Butterflies (1998) and Atraksion (2001).
Sat Nov 23: 3:30 & 7:30
Tue Nov 26: 3:15
OSVETA
Jan Hintjens, Belgium, 2001; 103m
OSVETA has an elaborate narrative structure that alternates between two
time frames. The first is Macedonia at the turn of the century during
the Ottoman reign, focusing on the doomed friendship between a
Macedonian Christian named Mitré who saves Osman, a wealthy Moslem Turk,
in a sudden ambush. The second is contemporary Brussels, to which
Osman's male descendent Orchan pays a visit to settle a family score
with Pavel, Mitré's nephew. As he bides his time and waits for the
right moment, he falls in love with Pavel's daughter Els. OSVETA is one
timely movie, confronting some of the most important issues in the world
today, namely how vengeance and hatred can be preserved through
generations and across national borders. It is also one of the best
films ever made about the new European diaspora. With an excellent
performance by Refet Abazi as Orchan.
Tue Nov 26: 1
Wed Nov 27: 2 & 6:45
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