Cinema of Belgium

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Cinema of Belgium
Produced feature films (2009)[3]
Fictional36 (76.6%)
Animated4 (8.5%)
Documentary7 (14.9%)
Number of admissions (2010)[5]
Total21,230,379
 • Per capita1.97 (2012)[4]
National films2,050,604 (9.7%)
Gross box office (2010)[5]
Total€145 million
National films€13.5 million (9.4%)

Cinema of Belgium refers to the

Brussels-Capital Region) and three language communities (the Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking), the French (i.e., French-speaking) Community and the German-speaking Community
). Due to these linguistic and political divisions it is difficult to speak of a national, unified Cinema of Belgium. It would be more appropriate to talk about Flemish or Dutch-language cinema of Belgium and Walloon or French-language cinema of Belgium.

History

Early history

While the invention of the

Lumière brothers is widely regarded as the birth of cinema, a number of developments in photography preceded the advent of film. Among the people pioneering work on animation devices was a Belgian professor of experimental physics Joseph Plateau. Plateau, who was active at the Ghent University invented an early stroboscopic device in 1836, the "phenakistiscope
". It consisted of two disks, one with small equidistant radial windows, through which the viewer could look, and another containing a sequence of images. When the two disks rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization of the windows and the images created an animated effect. The projection of stroboscopic photographs, creating the illusion of motion, eventually led to the development of cinema.

The first public projection in Belgium took place on 1 March 1896 at the Kings Gallery in Brussels. In the following years there was a surge in activity, initially dominated by the French industrial Charles Pathé. One of his assistants, Alfred Machin founded the first production studio in 1910; some of his films are still preserved in the Royal Filmarchive in Brussels. The first Belgian movie producer was Hippolyte De Kempeneer, who produced several interesting films until his studio burned down in 1923.

1930 - 1980

The 1930s however saw the first serious attempt at cinema. Several prominent figures such as Charles Dekeukeleire and Henri Storck experimented with new filming techniques and founded the Belgian Documentary School, which was long regarded as one of the highlights of Belgian Cinema. With the advent of sound, directors such as Jan Vanderheyden fully explored the possibilities of the medium, adapting popular literary works such as De Witte of Ernest Claes. De Witte proved to be a pivotal work in the history of Belgian Cinema. The film was a tremendous popular success and would spawn a future remake and a TV series that was widely acclaimed in its own right.

While attempts to produce a serious feature-length film were frequently met with difficulty, Belgian

Golden Palm for best short feature in 1979 for Harpya
.


In 1975 the filmmaker

critics' poll published by Sight and Sound in 2022, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles was named the greatest film of all time. Akerman's influence on feminist and avant-garde cinema is substantial, with at least one scholar calling her "one of the most significant directors of our times."[6]

From 1964 on, film could be subsidized by the government, making way for a new generation of filmmakers such as André Delvaux (De Man Die Zijn Haar Kort Liet Knippen, after Johan Daisne's novel), Roland Verhavert (Pallieter, after Felix Timmermans's novel) and Harry Kümel.[7]

1980 - 2000

Benoît Poelvoorde, a Belgian actor and the star of Man Bites Dog

The 1980s however saw a break with the tradition of the 60s and 70s, which was increasingly perceived as too stagy or otherwise preoccupied with rural dramas, giving rise to more personal and gritty filmmaking, led by people such as

Nicole van Goethem
.

Belgian cinema finally took flight during the 1990s, gaining international prominence with such films as

.

Present

Best Foreign Language Film
entry in 2007, but failed to be nominated.

Classic literary works continue to be adapted, in particular the work of Willem Elsschot, and often in coproduction with Dutch film companies.

Adaptations of new literary works are also frequent.

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.

Belgium also annually hosts several film festivals, the most important of which are the

Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film
.

Belgian films

Notable people

Directors

Actors and actresses

See also

  • Cinema of the world

References

  1. ^ a b "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production - Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Country Profiles". Europa Cinemas. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Table 11: Exhibition - Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  6. ^ "BBC - Homepage". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  7. ^ De constructie van een nationale cinema. UGent.

Bibliography

Mathijs, Ernest (ed.), The cinema of the Low Countries, Wallflower Press, London, 2004.

Mosley, Philip, Split screen: Belgian cinema and cultural identity, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2001.

External links

  • (in Dutch) Flanders Image- a website dedicated to the Flemish film industry
  • (in French) cinergie.be- a website dedicated to the Belgian film industry
  • (in French) Égérie - a website dedicated to the Belgian film industry in French