Film Museum
Film museum Antwerpen
MuHKA FILMMUSEUM ANTWERPEN
MUHKA Film Museum Antwerp
Since 2004, the Film Museum is part of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Antwerp (MuHKA). The collaboration - which later led to a fusion – occurred upon assessing that both cultural organisations deal with the artistic past in the same manner: a creative way of presenting and contextualising it, the combination of the experience and the contextualisation makes the past live into the present more than ever and maybe even has it carry part of the future within itself.
The fusion with MuHKA allows the Film Museum to confront the relatively young medium of film with the world of artistic ideas from which it originated –in part, at least- and which formed it, and, vice versa, to have film comment upon its own past and future (in the form of multi-media installations: from video to digital animation).
Films are projected, all through the year, 7 days per week. Those films encompass the entire history of film: from the first steps by pioneers like Edison, Lumière and Méliès to the most recent work by newly discovered young talent which ought not be missed and which is the talk of the town. Hundreds of films are being shown here every year: films of all genres, categories, styles, durations and formats.
The programme is changing on a monthly basis and always is ordered in a transparent manner according to themes, or otherwise it is presented within the framework of a retrospective or of an homage.
The Film Museum allows you to get acquainted with canonised classics, yet also with films whose very existence you did not even suspected. Regularly, the Film Museum shows ‘silent films’ live accompanied by a pianist or by an ensemble, a unique experience which you could only live at few other venues.
Cinema from Hollywood to Bollywood, from Bugs Bunny to Ingmar Bergman, American Independents, Hongkong martial arts, B-films, blockbusters, cult movies, cartoons, cinema vérité, documentaries, exploitation, old journals, slapsticks, yet also avant-garde and experimental film, TV-programmes or series, you just name it: sooner or later you can get to see it at the Film Museum.
Yet the Film Museum is not merely a stream of film footage: most of the programmes are being introduced by means of an introduction, a lecture or a publication. Connoisseurs from Belgium and abroad, but also directors or actors are invited to share their knowledge and experiences with the public.
Most of the films which are shown at the Film Museum stem from the collection of the Royal Belgian Film Archives [Cinémathèque royale de Belgique].
Film Museum at the Museum of Photography
The Film Museum is especially pleased about its new location in the extended Museum of Photography. The renovated Museum of Photography (Waalse Kaai 47) attempts to be a place of encounter of divergent mediums, in which the continuously developing story of the image occupies a central place. The renowned architect Georges Baines designed this polyvalent surroundings, featuring two auditoriums which could be used as a film hall on the ground floor (with a fixed room reserved for the Film Museum), a Museum café, a bookshop and an exhibition space.
The two projection halls have a respective capacity of 85 and of 150 seats and are equipped with the most technically advanced material for the projection of all video and film (16,33 and 70mm) formats. --http://www.muhka.be/toont_film_Filmmuseum.php?la=en [Jul 2004]
Archimedia and the Royal Belgian Film Archive
Initiated in 1996 by the Royal Belgian Film Archive and the University of Paris III within the framework of the European MEDIA PLUS programme, the ARCHIMEDIA project primarily aims to establish a network of archives and universities throughout the European Union. As from this year we have 5 partners lead by the Royal Belgian Film Archive, this unique European Network has developed a specific training programme which both meets their needs and combines their individual strengths. --http://www.ledoux.be/archimedia/presentation_en.htm [Jul 2004]Koninklijk Belgische Filmarchief / Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique / Royal Belgian Film Archives
The Film Archive was created in the PSK in 1938. It is one of the oldest and richest film archives in the world. The collection includes short and full-length films, fiction and documentaries. In 1962, the Film Museum was given a permanent niche in the PSK. There, the collection is brought to life in two theatres. Each day, five films are shown: three talking pictures and two silent films with live piano accompaniment. Tuesday is reserved for Belgian films, children’s matinees take place on Sunday and Thursday is the day for the classics. Each month, the programme follows three themes and regularly pays tribute to a particular director. In addition to the public screenings, the museum also organises guided tours, private screenings, seminars and courses in film history and film analysis. http://www.filmarchief.be [Jul 2004]Belgian cinema
Belgian Cinema/Le Cinema Belge/De Belgische Film - Marianne Thys, Cinematheque Royale De Belgique [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Belgian 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. While the volume is not a history, it provides some background throughout on the Belgian film industry. The chronological arrangement forces readers to use the indexes of names and film titles, but that is a minor irritation. Highly recommended for all film collections. --Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ. Lib., Houston via Amazon.com
BELGIAN CINEMA describes in a lively style 100 years of Belgian cinematic production. This extensively illustrated, tri-lingual volume presents a chronological outlook on national production between 1896 and 1996. The idea was for a serious reference volume which would serve as a basis for the work of journalists, students and academics as well as film restorers and archivists. Finally, in compiling this publication we also set ourselves the goal of opening a gateway, allowing the material filmed in our country to reach a wider audience not (yet) familiar with Belgian cinema and its history. --Book Description via Amazon.com
The sources employed the film collection of the Royal Film Archive naturally, but also contributions from other collections and, above all, countless written sources permitted the discovery of an important and relatively little known cinematic production. The results take the form of a filmography divided into two parts: the silent era and the sound cinema. Given that the information to be found on the first three decades of cinema in Belgium is as surprising as it is scarce, we have chosen to take a closer look at film production during that era and cover every individual work, regardless of length. To bring clarity into this more nebulous period of history, we have divided the section on the silent era into three periods or chapters. These three chapters have themselves been subdivided into a series of thematic - though not necessarily systematic - sections, where each film has its place. The remainder of the book is devoted to the sound era. Here, all sound films of mor! ! e than 60 minutes in length are listed in chronological order, year by year, film by film. Fiction and documentary, animation, art and experimental film - all genres are represented here. Each is covered by a single page comprising a column of credit details / technical data, an illustration and a text in English, French and Dutch. The texts not only describe the contents of the film, but also consider the production history of the work, the career of the director or members of its cast and the reception of the film. They reflect the individual characteristics of the film and try to place it in its historical context. The texts as a whole thus give an overview of 100 years of Belgian cinema history. This book is not a film history. Yet readers will be surprised to discover, turning the pages on a whim or with the simple desire to revisit old flames and happen across new, that this weighty volume expands in unexpected directions. It becomes an endless puzzle in which loving study can discern, guided by the thread of our films, the living history of our century.(André Delvaux) --via Amazon.com
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