This edition comprises 14 short films by Raoul Servais, otherwise known as the magician of Ostend. Servais enjoys an international reputation as a pioneer of the animation film in Belgium, the founder of the first animation film training in Europe and the first Belgian winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes for an animation film. His work is characterised by an unremitting search for new forms and techniques. In a new documentary Rudy Pinceel paints a poetic portrait of Raoul Servais and follows him for three years up to the opening of a permanent room dedicated to his work at Mu.ZEE, the museum of Belgian art in Ostend.
CONTENT
DVD 1
Harbour Lights (1960)
In a coastal village a faulty street lantern lands on the rubbish yard. During a storm a fishermen's boat is in trouble. The big lighthouse has fallen asleep, but the street lantern saves the boat.
November Diversion (1962)
On a November day a man deposits a flower garland for his old car at the junkyard. But the place appears to be a labyrinth in which he gets lost.
The False Note (1963)
A little beggar tries in vain to get an alms in a big city where everything is organised, efficient and lucrative. His barrel organ's tune always ends with an impressive false note, upsetting the townspeople. Eventually the little beggar will receive a dream fulfilling gift.
Chromophobia (1965)
The grey legions invade the world of colour to establish their colourless dominance. Resistance appears in the shape of a scarlet jester, who restores the reign of colour using his chromatic trickery.
Sirene (1968)
Monsterlike cranes reign over an inhospitable harbour as prehistorical reptiles. The only human being they accept is a lonesome fisherman. He is to witness a strange encounter between a ship's mate and a mermaid. Imagination or reality?
Goldframe (1969)
Jason Goldframe, a film producer, is always the best and the first! It's his ambition to be the very first to achieve the inconceivable: making a 270mm film. Obsessed as he is, he even wants to be faster than his shadow. One evening he succeeds.
To speak or not to speak (1970)
When the average man in the street is asked what he thinks of the political situation, there's not much to be learned. Only a dropout is willing to give a truly personal opinion.
Operation X-70 (1971)
A mighty state is experimenting with a new nerve gas that doesn't kill, but numbs people. By accident some of the gas is dropped on a peaceful country 'Nebelux', where suddenly strange mutations appear.
Pegasus (1973)
An old blacksmith is now too old to adapt to the changing technological society. Frustrated, he creates his own universe in which he eventually also becomes obsolete.
Halewyn's Song (1976)
Sir Halewyn's magical song lures girls from afar to his gloomy forest, from where no-one ever returned. Based on a medieval song. This commissioned film was executed in cut-out animation.
Harpya (1979)
During his evening walk Mister Oscar witnesses an assault. He is very surprised to see that it is the work of a genuine harpy. He wants to find out more, which is not without danger.
Nocturnal Butterflies (1998)
A beautiful moth leads us towards the waiting room of an abandoned railway station. Suddenly a surreal situation comes to life. Inspired by the work of the Belgian surrealist painter Paul Delvaux. Nocturnal Butterflies is the only film that was entirely made in the 'Servaisgraphy' technique.
Atraksion (2001)
A couple of downcast prison inmates work their way through the most desperate of landscapes. One of them ventures to look up towards a shining light. Is that their deliverance? He decides to go for it.
Tank (2015)
On the 15th of September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme the British army for the first time in history used tanks in order to force a breakthrough in the trench war. The use of this new weapon was a hellish experience, both for the defending soldiers in the trenches and the crew inside the tank. For Otto in the trench and Johny in the tank, this proves a turning point.
DVD 2
SERVAIS (2018)
The documentary SERVAIS tells the story of living film legend Raoul Servais on his way to an appointment with history. At the end of June 2018, the art museum Mu.ZEE in Ostend - whose collection includes many works by Ensor and Spilliaert - devoted two permanent exhibition rooms to Servais on his 90th birthday. The documentary traces the three years prior to this moment. Starting in October 2015, it follows the daily life of the internationally renowned animated film director, who continues to push the boundaries with contagious enthusiasm every single day. SERVAIS is not an archive film. It is a fascinating portrait of an aged artist that keeps challenging himself with a youthful flexibility and inspires others beyond measure.