Week 4/2025

The news of Donald Trump’s second inauguration will be the first major story to digest this week. His resurgence in American politics has led some to proclaim that the next ten years will be “the decade of the bully.” Does cinema still have the courage to challenge or subvert the white, male, misogynistic impetus running through politics today? We can only hold onto the belief that it does. Hopefully, this week’s collection of films will provide a much-needed antidote.

Beursschouwburg leads the way with two film programmes during its festive inauguration weekend. The first programme celebrates Black gay filmmaker, educator, poet, and activist Marlon Riggs. Tongues Untied (1989) is an essayistic video collage blending various forms of expression: spoken poetry, interviews, rap, performances by poet Essex Hemphill, and sequences of dancing and voguing that boldly reflect the influence of music videos. As a documentary, it examines the intersection of homophobia and racism faced by Black gay men; as a work of art, it celebrates Black gay identity and defies its silencing. The film is accompanied by two of Riggs’ later short films, Anthem (1991) and Affirmations (1990). The second programme features Alice Diop’s Vers la tendresse, a tender portrait of four young men and their perspectives on masculinity, screened alongside mercedes comme papillon, a student short by Marthe Perret.

On the same evening, CINEMATEK presents a screening of Ernst Lubitsch’s Design for Living (1933). This elegantly crafted film, a collaboration between Lubitsch and soon-to-be Hollywood legend Ben Hecht, explores the complexities of a ménage à trois with Fredric March, Gary Cooper, and Miriam Hopkins in a way that stands far apart from its era. Far from moralising, it offers a nuanced and freewheeling take on human desire.