Five original 35mm films added to Flemish List of Masterpieces
Five original 35mm films have recently been added to the Vlaamse Topstukkenlijst, the Flemish List of Masterpieces. Four of them date from the early days of film, the silent film era, the fifth is the first Dutch-language sound film in Belgium.
The Vlaamse Topstukkenlijst contains moveable cultural heritage of the Flemish Community that benefits from special protection measures. Cultural items on the list are considered rare and indispensable because of their archaeological, historical, cultural-historical, artistic or scientific significance.
Among the original 35mm films that were recently added to this list, is the first Dutch-language sound film in Belgium, De Witte (The White One) from 1934. The film, in black and white, is an adaptation of the eponymous 1920 novel by Ernest Claes. It was directed by Jan Vanderheyden with screenplay by Edith Kiel.
Early days of cinema
De Witte is the nickname of the main character: a smart but naughty farmhand's son whose pranks drive his elders and classmates to despair in a time when harsh punishment for disobedience was common. In 1980, a new version was made by director Robbe De Hert, De Witte van Sichem or Whitey in English.
The four other works date from the early days of cinema, the silent film era. Among them is the 1919 short cartoon Flik en Flok in het land der wolven (Flik and Flok in the Land of Wolves) with French and Dutch intertitles. The film is said to have come from Canada, but was discovered and restored In Flanders. The first known surviving Flemish short film – the slapstick comedy Drogekunst Broeders (Drogekunst Brothers) from around 1920 – is now on the list.
The last two films are by the Antwerp couple Anna and François Frijters, who in 1928 made Leentje van de zee (Leentje of the Sea), the only complete Flemish silent feature film of 70 minutes from that period. A few years later, in 1934, they made the comedy De Verloofde uit Canada (The Fiancée from Canada), about a working-class boy from Antwerp who emigrates to Canada.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © PHOTO SIESE VEENSTRA / ANP / AFP
Related news
