On Monday, the Cinematek decided to start crowdfunding. In fact, the organization is looking for 25,000 euros to renew its equipment. In particular, it wants to invest in cleaning machines and assembly tables to continue the maintenance and restoration of the thousands of films in its care.

Since the last company that produced these machines went bankrupt and is now liquidating its stocks, Cinematek decided to buy them in order to renew its equipment.

The Royal Belgian Film Archive currently receives funding of nearly € 3 million per year. However, it is not enough to invest in new machines. For this reason, Cinematek decided to ask for help to the citizens.

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To shed light over those tumultuous times, the Cinematek has organized a cycle of movies that invite the public to know more about the student movement, its context and subsequent repression, and the traces it all left in Mexican society.

A brief description of the program is shown below.

The cycle is made possible in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes Bruselas, UNAM Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ambassade du Mexique en Belgique – UE, Cinea & Centro de Estudios Mexicanos – Centrum voor Mexicaanse Studies

02.10.2018 19:00

Memorial del 68 is a documentary about the events occurred on October 2, 1968 in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico, its background, its development, its culminating moments, its outcome; about what was gained and what was lost and, above all, what future generations obtained from it, perhaps the most important social movement that took place in Mexico after the Mexican Revolution. After 50 years, the film brings an extensive account of the movement that marked the country and laid the foundations of many changes in Mexican society.

With this documentary, funded by the UNAM Film Library, we introduce the documentary cycle dedicated to the events of October 2, 1968, exactly 50 years ago. The film by director Nicolás Echeverría includes a large number of testimonies by key figures of the events.

Introduction in English by Sarah Stokes (author of Paris and Mexico City: 1968 Student Activism)
All films are subtitled in English only.

07.10.2018 21:00

As part of the Special Showings that commemorate the Anniversary of 1968, we present a selection of short films by renowned Mexican filmmaker Óscar Menéndez. Dos de Octubre: Aquí México, Historia de un Documento: Los Presos Políticos del 68 en la Cárcel de Lecumberri and Únete Pueblo.

15.10.2018 21:00

In the summer of revolt, student Leobardo López Aretche captured the protests in Mexico City, and the state’s brutal response, up close – and like many of his subjects and fellow comrades, would pay a high price for his audacity. Fifty years later, his movie is no longer a secret.

El Grito is frequently listed as one of the most important Mexican films, and the influential Mexican film critic Jorge Ayala Blanco called it “the most complete and coherent filmic testimony that exists of the Movement, seen from the inside and in contrast to the calumnies put out by the rest of the mass media.” If the end of that quote sounds a little overblown, it’s worth remembering the stranglehold that the PRI had on the media back then, and for years afterwards – the day after perhaps as many as 400 innocent people had been shot in a public square, almost every Mexican newspaper without fail reported the government’s line that student “sharpshooters” had fired on the authorities in Tlatelolco, and that just 27 people had been killed in the ensuing shoot-out. At the time Aretche was virtually the only filmmaker providing a real riposte to the government’s official history, at great personal risk.

18.10.2015 19:00

Three more documentaries

Details of the cycle can be found here

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Rachid Madrane, in charge of the Promotion of Brussels at the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, has been actively supporting the promotion of 2.0 culture in Brussels since 2015. “For years now, events related to 2.0 culture have been attracting a significant number of visitors. In fact, pop and street culture encompass interests that fall under the different themes associated with Brussels, such as film, comics, street art, and so on. It is therefore a strong subject in which Brussels has a lot to offer, the city being a true crossroads for talent in these fields in Europe. This is why I have been supporting pop and street culture in Brussels since 2015 through the creation of a cluster for reflection, exploration and development around this topic,” says Madrane.

It’s no surprise that pop culture feels at home in Brussels. There’s no doubt that Europe’s capital has the necessary qualities: a quirky, festive and creative spirit. With events, board game bars, and escape rooms springing up around the city, Brussels offers a wide range of activities for geeks from around the world.

This year, the capital is putting on a series of unmissable events for gamers and cosplayers. Here is an overview:

Science Fiction & Fantasy, 1902 – 1929

With this exceptional selection of films, the Cinematek is offering a unique opportunity to (re)discover how the pioneers of cinema were true visionaries: fantastic creatures, parallel worlds, high-tech machines…

Dates: from 27/02/2018
Venue: Cinematek

Anima 2018

Anima, Brussels’s international animated film festival, is back with original shorts and feature-length films for young and old alike. The subject matter ranges from poetry and happiness to violence and eroticism. Anima also offers kids’ workshops, a stage for teenagers, concerts, conferences, and so forth, and puts the spotlight on all lovers of the genre.

Dates: 09/02 – 18/02/2018
Venues: Cinematek & Flagey

Comic Con Brussels

The most popular comic convention is coming back to Brussels. It welcomes more than 10,000 visitors each year. Visitors will be amazed by fantastic cosplay costumes, get to meet world stars and get lost among the hundreds of specialist stands: comics, cosplay, gaming, films, manga, series, collectables, clothing, games, gadgets and lots more.

Dates: 10-11/02/2018
Venue: Tour & Taxis

Made in Asia

Made in Asia, the biggest event for Asian pop culture and manga, awaits fans of the genre at Brussels Expo. More than 300 exhibitors, shops, fun and cultural activities, concerts with brand new material, and Japanese guests will be there for signings, not to mention the big cosplay competition: the World Cosplay Summit!

Dates: 16 – 18/03/2018
Venue: Palais 5, Brussels Expo

Star Wars© Identities

Immerse yourself in the legendary Star Wars© Identities exhibition to discover the story behind this legendary saga. Featuring hundreds of costumes, accessories, drawings and models.

Dates : 02/04 – 02/09/2018
Venue: Palais 2, Brussels Expo

BIFFF

BIFFF is an oasis of good films that will get your adrenaline pumping, with cinematic nuggets of horror, science-fiction and thrillers. Around 150 films that you can enjoy in the presence of the actors and directors, a body-painting and make-up contest, a manga market, a zombie parade and a vampires’ ball.

Dates: 03 – 15/04/2018
Venue: BOZAR

Brussels Games Festival

The Brussels Games Festival is THE games festival for all audiences and all generations. A free, friendly and jovial celebration at the height of summer in Brussels!

Dates: 25 – 26/08/2018
Venue: Parc du Cinquantenaire

Bricklive Brussels

Bricklive is coming back to Brussels. LEGO® fans will love this 2018 edition, which is even bigger and more interactive than before. Whether as a family or among friends, visitors will take part in the most important experience in the world and live out their wildest dreams among coloured bricks.

Dates: 26/10 – 04/11/2018
Venues: Tour & Taxis

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Celebrating its 36th birthday, this is the 37th festival its held within the city, and with multiple backers, they had the resources to give a huge and comprehensive lineup.

« We accompany the Anima Festival since 2012. BNP Paribas Fortis has close links with the film industry. Our involvement in the cinema sector is underpinned by values we share such as passion for innovation, proximity, creativity and the ambition to realize the dreams of our partners, customers, and employees. The main focus of our cinema activities is to support and promote Belgian cinema. The bank has built strong and long-lasting partnerships with the world of the 7^th art in Belgium and thus contributes to boosting the sector » explains Alain De Greef, Head of Sponsoring, Events and Live Communication at BNP Paribas Fortis.

The judges have saved no expense in finding the very best animations of the year: watching 1,659 to chose its selection. In total, here is some of what the festival will have to offer: 126 short films in the national and international competitions, nine features selected in the international competition, 42 countries represented, 129 screening sessions in Brussels and animation workshops for up to 350 children.

Opening film: The Breadwinner by Nora Twoney

The festival will have special screenings and talks with directors – including Michael Dudok de Wit for his Oscar nominated « The Red Turtle » – where they elaborate on their works and creative process, as well as special categories that will be focusing on Estonian animation and animation out of Brussels.

And the festival will also host exhibitions, one featuring 12 of the original paintings from the highly appraised film Loving Vincent; a film which tells the life of Van Gogh frame by frame in paintings.

With plenty on offer and the countless list of quality productions, Anima 2018 is shaping up to be a festival of great depth. Being a worthy broadcaster to the art of animation and celebrating its 36th birthday with style.

Good to know:

• Dates: 9 to 18 February 2018
• Full programme

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From the 15th of January until the 17th of February, the Royal Cinematek of Belgium offers a tribute to the magician of Tehran in the form of conferences and screenings. Bozar Centre for Fine Arts is also hosting two events in January commemorating the work of the great Iranian master.

On January 16th, the documentary: 76 minutes and 15 seconds, by Iranian director Seifollah Samadian was screened. The title refers to the seventy-six years and fifteen days of Kiarostami’s creative journey. On January 25th, his last full feature film, 24 Frames, will be screened and introduced by cinema critic Jean-Michel Frodon. The film shows a collection of photos taken by Kiarostami’s himself, with one of the main questions behind the movie being: What happened before and after each image?

His artistic life began as a graphic designer and illustrator. “As a young man he read a book about Van Gogh and thought, ‘I want to be like him,‘” said Talheh Daryanavard, film scholar at the IHECS (Institut des Hautes Etudes des Communications Sociales). “He wanted to break the rules. Around that time, he entered a drawing competition and won it. He simply outdid them all. That’s when he began to notice what he could do with his eye. Soon after he joined the Fine Arts School in Tehran.”

Daryanavard offered a lecture at the Cinematek called, The Flavor of Cinema, where he went over Kiarostami’s early career and the realisation of his first films for the Kanun, the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, founded in 1969 by Farah Diba, the Shah’s wife.

During the lecture, some of his earlier shorts were screened, including The Bread and Alley (1970), Breaktime (1972), as well as excerpts from the full feature films: The Experience (1973), The Traveler (1974), all of them within the framework of his responsibilities at Kanun. The shorts depict in detail the intricacies of childhood life, the mix of joy and torture that many experience at school, the fears and anxieties of peer pressure. In First Case, Second Case (1979), the author poses a double-edged question: Is it better to betray your classmates or show solidarity against the punishment of an angry teacher?

After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 many directors left Iran, including the talented Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rassoulof, who were able to find an outlet for their creativity elsewhere. “Kiarostami stayed and found a wealth of inspiration in his homeland,” said Daryanavard. “He remained forever curious about Iran. He discovered ways to express his preoccupations in plenty of his films. In a poetic way of course, but it’s there.”

Some of the films shown during the cycle at Cinematek are: Through the Olive Trees, Close-Up, Taste of Cherry (Palme d’Or Award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival), Shirin, among others.

In September of 1993, Kiarostami met with Akira Kurosawa for a two and a half hour conversation that later became iconic. The Japanese master had been deeply moved by his interlocutor’s work. He’s known to have said, “When Satyajit Ray passed on, I was very depressed. But after seeing Kiarostami’s films, I thanked God for giving us just the right person to take his place.”

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