CONNEXT 2022

Flemish filmmaker Luc Vrydaghs profiles the late Jan Hoet, one of the most controversial European curators of recent decades, charting his personal evolution from insecurity as a young man towards de facto papal status within the modern art world. But at the very core of Hoet’s artistic sense was something altogether more classical, the titular Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Jan van Eyck, which resides in the Flemish town of Ghent.

An elegant and insightful blend of childlike art, music and observation helps elevate Vida Dena’s documentary My Paper Life (Ma vie en papier) to something rather special, and helps deliver a thoughtful and warm look into the thoughts, memories and present-day realities for a Syrian family who have escaped the war and are now living in Belgium.

In Corpus A Quest for Eternity, a collection of contemporary, internationally known artists take us on a journey into the world of medical art to reflect upon death and the beauty of the mortal body. “We use art - and the fragile human body as a metaphor - to ask existential questions, and investigate the subject of mortality through a poetic visual language,” write the filmmakers.

With the striking vista of volcano Katla looming large and ominously over the Icelandic village of Vík í Mýrdal, the town’s inhabitants have developed a relationship with the potentially dangerous volcano and set about using it as a lure for tourists, creating a source of considerable prosperity. The problem is that an eruption is way overdue. Or maybe that’s why the tourists are there in the first place…

Making one film is a challenge. Doing six at once is something that could easily drive even hardened and experienced producers to the verge of breakdown. Nonetheless, showrunners Vincent Coen and Guillaume Vandenberghe, together with producer Hanne Phlypo of Belgian outfit, Clin d’oeil films, are in the final stages of completing their epic series Draw For Change, which they discuss with BDE.

Flemish producer Kristian Van der Heyden, who is also part of the Ji.hlava Emerging Producers programme in 2022, came to Antwerp to present his project about modern day slavery. “This is not about history. It is about an island in Indonesia where an overlooked traditional culture has kept alive this element of slavery for centuries until today,” he told the professional audience.

The three-way 90-minute co-pro The Jacket (Belgium, France, The Netherlands) places a fictional tale (that of a search for the titular theatre prop in the streets of Beirut) into a documentary setting, at the same time exploring the broader topic of living in exile. “In this quest, situations and encounters will be set up, but it is not my task to direct what Jamal or the other characters have to say,” says director Poppe.

Running 10-24 October both online and in-person, CONNEXT, an initiative of Flanders Image, the audiovisual export agency for Flanders and Brussels, will present 26 new and upcoming Flemish and Brussels-initiated documentary features and works-in-progress (both features and series, including VR) to the international sales, distribution, finance and festival professionals in attendance.

Aldine Reinink talks to Business Doc Europe about her new film, a profile of renowned Belgian photographer Herman Selleslags, whose vast Antwerp house teems with the ghosts of 20th Century pop culture, as captured by his camera. But the multiplicity of images also conceals two psychologically complex father-son relationships which have defined life in the Selleslags household, the director reveals.

The Flemish CONNEXT showcase, running 10-25 October, offers up 26 new and upcoming Flemish and Brussels-initiated documentary features and works-in-progress (both feature projects and series, including VR) which will be presented to the international sales, distribution, finance and festival professionals in attendance both in Antwerp and online.