Hermes Ensemble . Koen Kessels

This is the sort of project we are pleased to lend a helping hand to. The house composers at Muziektheater Transparant have composed new soundtracks for six short experimental silent films from the Belgian Film Archives. In summer 2008 the Hermes Ensemble recorded the works for DVD at deSingel, and this disk can be purchased at the screening there. The 1930s saw the appearance of two giants of Belgian film-making: Henri Storck and Charles Dekeukeleire. These pioneers of the Belgian Documentary School experimented exhaustively with the new forms of expression they found in film. 'Misère au Borinage' is undoubtedly the best-known film by Henri Storck (1907-1999), but his early short films have in the meantime also worked their way into the collective memory. They are poetic, but at the same time have a lot to say about the harsh and sometimes playful reality. With his first film, 'Combat de boxe', Charles Dekeukeleire (1905-1971) took his place in the French avant-garde. He later turned to documentary films.