Belgian Film Resources
Belgian Cinema by ISBN: 9055442348Date: 1999-11-02Belgian cinema may not be as familiar as French or Italian, but this trilingual (English/French/Dutch) volume from the Royal Belgian Film Archive is essential for any comprehensive international film library. The more than 1600 "Belgian" films represented here are all Belgian-financed; entries may have been produced in any of about 40 countries. Silent and sound films are treated equally, with one page and a black-and-white photo devoted to each film; all genres (experimental, feature, animated, and documentary) are covered.
Directory of World Cinema: Belgium by ISBN: 9781783200085Date: 2014-04-15Is there such a thing as a single Belgian cinema? A country that is culturally and linguistically divided between the Dutch-speaking Flanders and the francophone Brussels and Wallonia, Belgium is a contested site, and its fragile unity continues to be challenged by separatists. Nevertheless, the filmic output of this divided country merits serious attention, and Directory of World Cinema: Belgium is the comprehensive guides it richly deserves.
Francophone Belgian Cinema by 
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ISBN: 9781474420761Date: 2019-02-07Francophone Belgian Cinema offers an original critical analysis of filmmaking in an oft-neglected 'national' and regional cinema. The book draws key distinctions between the local, national, small national, regional and transnational frameworks in both representational and industrial terms. Exploring these filmmakers' themes of post-industrialism, paternalism, the fractured nuclear family and spatial dynamics, as well as their work in the more commercial road movie and polar genres, Jamie Steele analyses their stylistic continuities and filiation.
Split Screen: Belgian Cinema & Cultural Identity by ISBN: 0791447472Date: 2000-11-02In presenting the first English language study of Belgian cinema, Split Screen explores the fascinating history of a cinema largely determined by linguistic division and beset by problems of cultural identity. In surveying the evolution of Belgian cinema from its beginnings to the present day, Philip Mosley locates all the major features films, describes the crucial intervention of the state in film production, and reveals undervalued Belgian traditions in documentary, in animation, in short films, and in a colonial cinema created partly in the former Belgian Congo.- Belgian Films: Cartoons, Old Films, Documentaries, T.V. Magazine and Fiction FilmsDate: 1974-1975Ministry of Foreign Affairs, External Trade and Cooperation in Development
The Cinema of the Low Countries by ISBN: 9781904764007Date: 2004-09-29Films of the Low Countries have long been regarded as isolated texts. This book points to the interconnectedness between Low Countries films from different genres, regions, languages, and formats. Building on each film's relationship with its particular cultural context, the volume presents twenty-four especially commisioned essays by renowned writers, each one focusing on one key film. The volume covers the work of internationally acclaimed directors such as Joris Ivens, Henri Storck, Paul Verhoeven, and the Dardenne Brothers. Key films discussed include Turkish Delight, The Vanishing, Daughters of Darkness, Character, Rosetta, and Man Bites Dog.
"Diasporic Belgian Cinema: Transnational and Transcultural Approaches to Molenbeek and Matonge in Black" / by Jamie Steele in Nationalism in Contemporary Western European Cinema, 2018-06-22, p.97-124 by - This link opens in a new window
ISBN: 3319736663Date: 2018-07-10Since the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris (13 November 2015) and Brussels (23 March 2016), the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek and the diasporic communities of Belgium—and in particular, Brussels—have been frequently analysed in European and Western media outlets.
- "Sex Cinemas, Limit Transgression and the Aura of 'Forbiddenness': The Emergence of Risqués Cinemas and Cinema Leopold in Ghent, Belgium, 1945-54" / by Daniel Biltereyst
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Film Studies, 2018, Vol.18 (1), p.14-33
Following a new cinema history approach and concentrating on the case of an emerging sex cinema in postwar Belgium (Cinema Leopold in Ghent, 1945–54), this article looks at various dimensions of limit transgression in terms of concrete physical and spatial relations; programming strategies; audience experiences; and a range of disciplining societal practices and institutional discourses. - "A State Cinematographic Practice in Wartime: The Belgian Army Film Unit 1916-1922" / by Bénédicte Rochet
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At the beginning of the war the image of Poor Little Belgium was an effective symbol that was largely fuelled by Allied propaganda and one-off Belgian initiatives. Nevertheless, when the Belgian Army was mentioned in Allied propaganda, the soldiers looked pitiful and exhausted. Because it was growing increasingly worried of this feeble image, the Belgian government decided in 1916 to change course and to coordinate its propaganda efforts to propagate a favourable portrayal of Belgium as a tenacious belligerent nation and equally worthy ally. The Belgian Army Film Unit, established in 1916, was part of this development. - "Implicitly queer Belgian cinema: Noordzee, Texas (Bavo Defurne, 2011)" / by Jason Hartford
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Studies in European cinema, 2017, Vol.14 (3), p.231-248.
This article proposes Noordzee, Texas, a romantic coming-of-age drama, as an implicitly queer film. Noordzee portrays boys falling in love without engaging in gay identity politics, while also queering a working-class and Belgian context through a combination of aesthetic techniques, including language choice. Its queerness lies in its blend of subverting and ignoring various identity discourses - national, formal and sexual. Its production history illustrates the added difficulty of making a queer film in the complex industry environment that is Belgium. - "Intranational Film Industries: A Quantitative Analysis of Contemporary Belgian Cinema" / by Bram Van Beek & Gertjan Willems
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French screen studies (Print), , Vol.ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), p.1-22
This article presents a quantitative analysis of Belgian fiction film production between 2000 and 2019. Analysing an extensive database, it explores the current state of Belgian cinema, which is characterised on the one hand by a strong international dimension, and on the other hand by two largely separate intranational industries: a Flemish and a francophone Belgian film industry. - "The Legacy of Belgian Colonialism in Contemporary Lens-Based Art On, of and from the Democratic Republic of Congo" / by Gabriella Eimile Petrone Nugent
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Dissertation (P.h.D)--University of London, University College London, 2020.
This dissertation explores the way in which contemporary lens-based art produced by artists of Congolese origin has contributed to our understanding of Belgian colonialism and its enduring effects in the Congo. - "Portuguese and Belgian Colonial Cinema: The Filmography of Two Small Big Countries in Africa" / by Alexandre Ramos
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The instrumentalisation of cinema turned out to be fast, natural, and almost inevitable by countries with imperial ambitions. Belgium and Portugal, on which we focus here, were no exception. Both had minor geographic and demographic significance, which translated into a limited military capacity and consequently, a peripheral position in international geopolitics, dominated by other colonial powers-namely Germany, France, and the United Kingdom-with which they shared borders in the vast African overseas territories. - "The Taboos of the Documentary Film" / by Bert HogenkampBelgian filmmaker Henri Storck's life and works are profiled. His introduction to filmmaking is recounted. "It was the twenties and the young Henri Storck was captivated by the new medium of film...Storck began making his own films, though he had to learn the tricks of the trade for himself, for there were no film schools in those days and film handbooks were few and far between...With the film camera Storck observed what were for him everyday things like the sea and the dunes.
- "The 'transnational regional' in Francophone Belgian cinema" / by Jamie Nicholas SteeleDissertation--University of Exeter, 2014.
This thesis explores the films produced in the francophone Belgian region of Wallonia as a case study for the configuration of what will be termed a ‘transnational regional’ cinema. The first section of this dynamic is considered in relation to film and cultural policy, which problematizes the possible formation of a clearly delineated regional or ‘national’ cinema. This presupposes a reconfiguring of the transnational along the lines of the regional and the linguistic communities of Belgium, which, in essence, pertains to how production, distribution and exhibition mechanisms function within the devolved region of Wallonia.
The Cinema of the Dardenne Brothers by ISBN: 9780231163286Date: 2013-03-19The brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have established an international reputation for their emotionally powerful realist cinema. Inspired by their home turf of Liège-Seraing, a former industrial hub of French-speaking southern Belgium, they have crafted a series of fiction films that blends acute observation of life on the social margins with moral fables for the postmodern age.
Committed Cinema: The Films of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne by ISBN: 9781443812603Date: 2009-09-01After earning a reputation in their native Belgium for directing socially and politically conscious documentaries, they directed their first fiction feature, Falsch, in 1986. They have also been active as producers and in 1975 founded Derives, a company with more than sixty documentaries to its credit. A second company, Les Films du Fleuve, was formed in 1994. The brothers hail from Wallonia, the southern, French-speaking region of Belgium that provides the gritty, postindustrial landscape so omnipresent in their films. In the decade since their third fiction feature, La Promesse (1996).
Chantal Akerman by ISBN: 9780719077166Date: 2010-12-01A towering figure in women's and feminist film-making, she has produced a diverse and intensely personal body of work ranging from minimalist portraits of the everyday to exuberant romantic comedies, and from documentaries and musicals to installation art. This book traces the director's career at the crossroads between experimental and mainstream cinema, contextualising her work within the American avant-garde of the 1970s, European anti-naturalism, feminism and the post-modern aesthetics.
Chantal Akerman: Too Far, Too Close by ISBN: 9789461300447Date: 2012-08-31This retrospective monograph documents the career of director Chantal Akerman (born 1950), who made her breakthrough in 1975 with Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, a film about the everyday activities of a housewife. Her work since then has continued to investigate ideas of biography, gender, identity and memory.
Nothing Happens: Chantal Akerman's Hyperrealist Everyday by ISBN: 0822317265Date: 1996-02-09Through films that alternate between containment, order, and symmetry on the one hand, and obsession, explosiveness, and a lack of control on the other, Chantal Akerman has gained a reputation as one of the most significant filmmakers working today. Her 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is widely regarded as the most important feminist film of that decade.
- Toto the Hero (dir. Jaco Van Dormeal, 1991)
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- La Promesse (dir. Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1996)
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- The Broken Circle Breakdown (dir. Felix Van Groeningen, 2012)
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- Our Children (dir. Joachim Lafosse, 2012)
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- Two Days, One Night (dir. Luc and Jean Pierre Dardenne, 2014)
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- The Brand New Testament / Le tout nouveau Testament (dir. Jaco Van Dormeal, 2015)
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- Chez nous/ This is our land (dir. Lucas Belvaux, 2017)
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- Ghost Tropic (dir. Bas Devos, 2019)
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Additional Resources on Selected Major Belgian Films
- Committed Cinema: The films of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne: Essays and Interviews by ISBN: 9781443812603Date: 2009-09-01Committed Cinema: The Films of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne is the first book in English to treat the work of the Dardennes, and features the best essays and interviews (supplemented by a chronology, a filmography, film credits, and a bibliography) published to date on the two brothers' memorable films.
The Eighth Day and Toto the Hero by ISBN: 0571190375Date: 1997-01-01The first of these two screenplays tells the story of a man and his autistic brother. The second, in which past and present intermingle, features an old man looking back on a life blighted by bitterness and envy, due to a fantasy that he and a rich neighbour were swapped at birth.
- 7 arts, 1922-1928: une revue Belge d'avant-garde En 1922, trois très jeunes gens créent une revue d'avant-garde du nom de '7 Arts'. Comme son nom l'indique, elle entend promouvoir tous les arts mais surtout leur synthèse, vue au travers de l'architecture et du cinéma, qui ont cette particularité de les réunir tous. Pierre Bourgeois, le poète, Victor Bourgeois, l'architecte et Pierre-Louis Flouquet, le peintre, seront bientôt rejoints par Georges Monier, le musicien et Karel Maes, peintre mais aussi graveur et créateur de meubles
- Annuaire du film belge. Jaarboek van de Belgische film. Includes bibliographies. Flemish and French. Vols. for 1958-60 issued by the Cinematheque de Belgique; by the Cinematheque royale de Belgique.
- Belgian Cinema Admissions;1987 SRI C9380-1.844.5 Table showing Belgian motion picture theaters, seats, and admissions, by town and province, 1985-86.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window Articles and reviews from a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, circus, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television, and more. Former database title: International Index to Performing Arts (IIPA) Full Text.
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- Répertoire mondial des périodiques cinématographiques. World list of film periodicals and serials. World list of film periodicals and serials. International film bibliography.
- Revue belge du cinéma (Brussels, Belgium : 1982) Vols. for - issued by Association des professeurs pour la promotion de l'education cinématographique.
- Variety International Film Guide 17 volumes : illustrations (some color) ; 21-25 cm
- EBSCOhost This link opens in a new window Search platform for over 50 databases, from Academic Search Complete to Women's Studies International. ebsco host, ebscohost, ebs, ebsco host, ebsohost, eb, ebschost, ebsoc, EcbO, exco, esco, epsgoo, espco, ebs co, epsco
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- FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals This link opens in a new window Searches film and television articles in the International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-current) and Treasures from the Film Archives, which contains silent film-era listings from archives.
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- Ghent University - Centre for Cinema & Media Studies Ghent University is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. CIMS page features latest research and publication news about Belgian film.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full text of core scholarly journals from their beginning to approximately five years ago. Disciplines include botany, business, ecology, general science, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, statistics. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. UCLA has access to selected JSTOR e-books. jstore, jsotr, jrstor, jsot, Jsror, jsstor, Jstar, j-stor, jstory, jstot, Jstr, jstsor, justor, jsot, jsage, jsot, Jsror, Jsror, jsstor, J star, j-star
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- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Cinema and Media Studies This link opens in a new window Annotated bibliographies for topics in the field of Cinema and Media Studies. Combines encyclopedia-style introductions with expert recommendations of the most important reference works, books, journals, and primary sources on the topic.
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- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window Articles and reviews from a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, circus, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television, and more. Former database title: International Index to Performing Arts (IIPA) Full Text.
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- Project MUSE This link opens in a new window Full text of current issues (from about 1990) of scholarly journals published by university presses, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. UCLA has access to Muse e-books published from 2017-present, plus a selected number of other e-book titles. Full-Text Journals, johns hopkins university, milton s. eisenhower library, Project MIse, project mus, projectmuse, moose, project moose
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- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window Index to doctoral dissertations from 1637 to the present, with abstracts since 1980. A number of master's theses are also indexed, with abstracts since 1988. Many are available for download in pdf format. UCLA has access to all full text dissertations in the database. Non-UCLA users may use Dissertations Express to purchase digital or print copies of individual dissertations.
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- Cinematek — Royal Belgian Film Archive CINEMATEK aims to collect and preserve a collection of films that have lasting value on an aesthetic, technical and historical level; bring together as much documentation on the art of film as possible; ensure the consultation of these films and documents (with an aesthetic or scientific purpose).
- Screen Flanders Screen Flanders is the economic support measure for audiovisual works of the Flanders government.
- Cinema Belgica Cinema Belgica is an open access platform, exploring Belgium’s rich cinema history. Its extensive database forms a starting point for everyone who wants to dive into the history of cinema in Belgium.
- iMal iMAL is a space for artistic practices around the creative and critical use of new technologies. iMAL connects a community of artists, thinkers, makers and citizens from Belgium and abroad and offers a completely renewed infrastructure to support a program focussing on research, production and presentation
- Screen Brussels As part of hub.brussels, screen.brussels cluster is the gateway for all audiovisual entrepreneurs in the region. They provide support and expertise to help entrepreneurs handle formalities for development, production and co-production, financing, distribution and sales according to their actual needs.
- INSAS — Institut national supérieur des arts du spectacle et des techniques de diffusion The Institut national supérieur des arts du spectacle et des techniques de diffusion, better known as INSAS, is a Belgian film and drama school founded by Raymond Ravar, André Delvaux, Paul Anrieu, and Jean Brismée in 1962.
- Flanders State of Art — Fris Resarch Portal: Project on National Cinema The project contributes to a better understanding of contemporary Belgian cinema, while also providing an original empirical contribution to the study of the relationship between media and (trans)national identities in Western Europe.
Selected Belgian Films
La Promesse (dir. Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 1996).
"A teenager gradually comes to understand the implications of his father’s making a living through the exploitation of undocumented workers."
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Our Children (dir. Joachim Lafosse, 2012)
"In this tense French drama, a doctor brings a boy to Belgium and raises him as his own. When the boy reaches adulthood, he gets married and starts his own family, though he still relies on the doctor. When trouble strikes his family, this dependence turns into domination."
Winner of Best Actress (Émilie Dequenne) and nominated for the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the César Awards.
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Two Days, One Night (dir. Luc and Jean Pierre Dardenne, 2014)
"Marion Cotillard gives a powerful performance as a mother fighting to save her job in this gripping emotional rollercoaster from the acclaimed Dardenne brothers."
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The Brand New Testament / Le tout nouveau Testament (dir. Jaco Van Dormeal, 2015)
"God exists, and He’s a jerk. He lives in a high-rise apartment in Brussels and never gets out of His pajamas. He takes sadistic delight in dreaming up new “laws” to torment humanity, and He’s a petty tyrant to his wife and ten year-old daughter, Ea."
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Ghost Tropic (dir. Bas Devos, 2019)
"Khadija is a fifty-eight-year-old Maghrebi cleaning woman living in Brussels in the wake of the 2016 bombings that shook the city. After work one night, she falls asleep on the last subway train, wakes up at the end of the line and has no choice but to make her way home—all the way across the city—on foot. Along the way, she has a series of encounters: with a security guard, a convenience store clerk, a group of teenagers. She asks for help and she gives it and slowly, steadily makes her way."
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