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Belgium |
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1896-1960 |
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| 1896 | ||||
| 1/3 - | The first public screening is held at 7 Galerie du Roi in Brussels. [MORE] | |||
| 1913 | ||||
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| 4/3 - |
A gas explosion that destroys a house in rue de la Montagne, Brussels, is shown on the screen by producer and cameraman Isidore Moray five hours after it occurs. [MORE] [ADD] |
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– Alfred Machin directs Maudite soit la Guerre (War is Cursed), the country’s first feature film, with a running time of 82 minutes. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1914 | ||||
| 1/5 - |
Alfred Machin’s Maudit soit la guerre is released in Belgium after being held back by Pathe because of fears over public reaction to its pacifist message. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 14/11 - |
German director Stellan Rye dies in a French hospital in Flanders after being wounded during the fighting at Ypres. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1920 | ||||
| 20/4 - |
The journalist Vendabole, writing in La Libre Belgique, describes moviegoers as ‘clods’ and argues that ‘the cinema is harmful because it renders people mindless.’ [MORE] [ADD] |
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– Paul Flon directs Belgique Meurtrie, the country’s first feature film. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1923 | ||||
| 31/1 - | The authorities ban Jacques Feyder’s Crainquebille on the grounds that it demonstrates a lack of respect of the country’s laws. [MORE] [ADD] | |||
| 1930 | ||||
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– La Famille Klepkens, a silent film accompanied by a soundtrack on phonograph discs, is released. In 1936, the director Gaston Schoukens releases a version with a normal soundtrack. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1938 | ||||
| 15/2 - | The Association des Directeurs de Théâtres Cinématographiques de Belgique (ADTCB - Association of Belgian Cinema Theatre Owners) is founded by a group of 25 exhibitors to preserve the moral and material interests of exhibitors. [MORE] [ADD] | |||
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– The Royal Belgian Film Archive is founded, although too late to be an inaugural member of the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF). [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1939 | ||||
| 31/7 - |
Trident publish The History of the Cinematic Art by Carl Vincent, one of the first accounts of the general history of the cinema. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1940 | ||||
| 28/5 - |
The Nazis take control of the country, essentially bringing the Belgian film industry to a temporary close. All product must conform to Nazi ideology and is strictly censored by the Propaganda-Abteilung Belgien.[MORE] [ADD] |
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– The Association des Directeurs de Théâtres Cinématographiques de Belgique (ADTCB - Association of Belgian Cinema Theatre Owners) is dissolved and replaced by l'Association des Directeurs de Cinémas de Belgique (The Association of Owners of Belgian Cinemas). [MORE] [ADD] |
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– La Chambre Syndicale Belge de la Cinématographie (The Confederation of Belgian Cinematography) becomes La Chambre Syndicale Belge des Distributeurs de Films (The Confederation of Belgian Film Distributors), and incorporates a production department which is presided over by Jan Vanderheyden, who will later be convicted of collaborating with the Nazis. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1944 | ||||
| 12/12 - |
Following the liberation of Belgium, creators of the ADTCB (Association des Directeurs de Théâtres Cinématographiques de Belgique), hold a general assembly in Brussels and draw up new practical and economic plans to organise exhibitors. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1947 | ||||
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| 29/6 - |
Rene Clair’s Le Silence est d’or wins the statue of St. Michel at the World Festival of Film and Fine Arts in Brussels. The chances of another front-runner for the prize, Claude Autant-Lara's Le Diable au corps (Devil in the Flesh), are dashed when the French ambassador to Belgium leaves the screening in protest. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| Jun - |
The Festival Mondial du Film et des Beaux Arts de Belgique takes place in Brussels. [MORE] [ADD] |
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– Tin-Tin makes his film debut in Claude Misonne’s Le Crabe aux pinces d’or (The Crab with the Golden Claws). [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1951 | ||||
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– Le Banquet des fraudeurs, Henri Storck’s first feature, and the first Belgian post-war international co-production, is released. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1952 | ||||
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– The government establishes a ‘production premium’ to stimulate domestic film production. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1955 | ||||
| – Action Ciné Jeunes is established to promote film-related educational and creative activity for young people. [MORE] [ADD} | ||||
| 1958 | ||||
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| 12/10 - |
At the Brussels World's Fair, the Belgian Cinémathèque organises a poll of the best films of all time: The top 12 pictures are: 1. Bronenosets Potyomkin (The Battleship Potemkin) (100 votes) 2. The Gold Rush (85) 3. Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) (85) 4. La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc) (78) 5. La Grand illusion (72) 6. Greed (61) 7. Intolerance (61) 8. Mat (Mother) (54) 9. Citizen Kane (50) 10. Zemlya (Earth) (47) 11. Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) (45) 12. Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) (43) The selection is made by 117 film historians from 26 countries, including John Grierson, Iris Barry, André Bazin and Henri Langlois. [MORE] [ADD] |