At our October lecture, the speaker was Quentin Moyon, a French film critic who writes for various media in France and Belgium. He is on the editorial Board of the Belgium film revue ‘Surimpression’. Quentin explored the question of what the films chosen to represent Belgium at the Oscars tell us about the country?
In his view, these Oscar contenders mirror the economic or political crises, social victories and changes that Belgium has experienced since 1968.
Quentin opened with a brief history of this famous Hollywood competition which started in 1929. The first awards ceremony took place in 1934. In 1957 a special award was created for the best foreign language film. It was 10 years later that Belgium first entered the competition.
Now the Oscars are a big business so the choice of contenders is important. Accordingly, the country’s selection process is carefully considered. In Belgium the choice is made by a national committee, but is complicated by having two principal language communities, French and Flemish.
Then there is the issue of genre, with many in Belgium. Priority has been given over time to surrealism-influenced magic realism, the social cinema and the neo-noir thrillers. All have competed to represent Belgium, and appeared in contexts specific to their time of release.
Despite all the differences of opinion over language to be promoted in a given year and genre, the Belgians do submit entries for film festivals and sometimes win awards.
Over the years, films have reflected the situation in the country, from years of prosperity to economically- difficult periods. The 1960s were the period of magic realism- surrealism. Belgium was prosperous and the mood of society was mirrored in the avant-garde movie ‘The Departure’ by Jerry Skolimovsky. Then in 1979 Andre Delvaux’s film ‘Woman in a Twilight Garden’ was selected to represent Belgium at the Oscars but was not accepted as a nominee.
Towards the end of the 20th century the most important Belgian film was ‘Rosetta’ shot by the Dardennes brothers. In 1999 it won the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and it also received the prize for best actress and best film. The critics praised it for sharp, fast editing. They found in it something fresh, close to the life of the working classes. The film shows the struggles of ordinary people due to the economic crisis through the heroine Rosetta. Fast-changing scenes of closeups of the heroine’s face and expressions posed a challenge to viewers. There is no structure, no start, no culmination and no finale. It could have continued for several hours.
The Belgian movie ‘Girl’ by stage director Lukas Dhondt received an award in 2019 at the Cannes Film Festival for best debut. It tells the story of a transgender girl who wants to become a ballet dancer. It is based on the story of Belgian ballet dancer Nora Monsecour. The director later continued to explore the topic of gender and in 2022 in Cannes he received the Grand Prix for his film ‘Close’.
There have also been Belgian films in more traditional styles. For example, a 1977 historical film based on the life of Rubens, and the story of a priest ‘Daens’ in 1992. Then one can mention ‘The Alzheimer case’ by Eric Van Looy of 2005 which presented a pessimistic view of Belgian society. Then, identity search returns with the 1991 film ‘Toto the Hero’ by Jacob Van Dormail.
Belgian filmmakers don’t forget identity and language differences, which are reflected in cultural differences. For example, the 2012 film ‘Our Children’ by Joahim La Fosse. Belgium’s colonial past and its complex effects on society are another recurring subject. ‘Omen’ by Bajoli was the 2024 film selected to represent Belgium at the Oscars. It explores and contrasts culture, heritage, nationality and identity of the protagonists.
The 2023 film ‘Julie Keeps Quiet’ by Leonardo Van Dijl has just been selected to represent Belgium at the 2025 Oscars. It is about a future tennis star, whose coach is suspected of sexual abuse. This film is being shown this month (October) in Belgium.
