As part of the ongoing retrospective devoted to Belgian filmmaker Annik Leroy, CINEMATEK screens her landmark film Vers la mer (1999). After an intense period of photographic work, Leroy embarked on this meditative essay film, following the Danube from its source to its mouth. Along the river’s course, she observes faces and languages, places and seasons. An image of a wounded Europe, where the past continues to echo in the present, emerges. “It is clear that this film questions the spirit of experimentation,” wrote Jacqueline Aubenas, “a revolt that sought to disturb narrative, image, and time without forgetting sound. There lies the place of resistance. Quite simply, Vers la mer leaves the spectator free – to think, to dream, to travel.” The screening will be followed by a conversation between Annik Leroy and Marie Vermeiren (Elles Tournent).
Charles Burnett’s long-lost feature, The Annihilation of Fish (1999), returns to cinemas restored in 4K and on 35mm by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation. Starring James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave, this tender love story between two elderly outsiders resurfaces after twenty-five years in limbo. “Charles Burnett is one of the finest filmmakers in this country,” said Martin Scorsese. “It took many years and endless persistence to rescue this beautiful, delicate picture.” Thanks to the Antwerp film club FC Dollyshot, the film briefly tours Belgian cinemas following its rediscovery at Il Cinema Ritrovato.
This selection concludes with a cinema history class by Wouter Hessels, who will introduce two foundational works of Belgian documentary cinema: Misère au Borinage (Henri Storck & Joris Ivens, 1934) and Déjà s’envole la fleur maigre (Paul Meyer, 1960). Storck once wrote of Misère au Borinage: “It is a very sincere and passionate statement because Joris and I were deeply moved by the living conditions and poverty of these people… We wanted to reveal how Dantesque, how infernal this working-class world was.” Both films remain essential acts of testimony, confronting the erasures of official history and bearing witness to the persistence of human dignity.
