Marcel Roos, reizend reporter, explorateur, avonturier, cineast

In the 1950s, the Ghent-based explorer, adventurer and filmmaker Marcel Roos was a household name in Belgium and the Netherlands. He made films about his expeditions in South America and wrote travel reports and books on the subject. Like many of his colleagues, he introduced his own films himself, all over the country, and as an enthusiastic presenter, he sought to engage with the audience. The public devoured these ‘discover the world’ films with great enthusiasm. The genre was particularly popular in Flemish cinemas before the advent of television. To mark the publication of his book De schitterende toekomst van Hemelings en zoon, Erik Martens brings the forgotten filmmaker Marcel Roos back into the spotlight. In his film lecture, he engages in conversation with Roos’s predecessors and successors, and we will watch excerpts from his filmography, digitised and restored by Cinematek.