Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)

Lutenist Jozef van Wissem is a frequent guest of VIERNULVIER. After his concert with legendary film director Jim Jarmusch, De Vooruit will also be the venue for the world premiere of his latest soundtrack project during VIDEODROOM 2025. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from 1920 is a masterpiece of silent cinema and is considered a pioneering force in German Expressionism in film. Joseph's soundtrack will - in his own words - consist of a mixture of his well-known hypnotic lute and slide passages, slow drones on electric guitar, sound collages of all kinds and spoken word.

About The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
This classic originated in the minds of two disillusioned friends Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz, who wanted to make a statement after WWI about the effect of a tyrannical authority on a passive, lulled population. Inspired by the performance of a hypnotist, they wrote the screenplay of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, in which the mysterious Dr. Caligari arrives in a small German village, using the sleepwalking Cesare as his murder weapon. Or is the narrator of the story less reliable than we might think after all?

Director Robert Wiene drew inspiration from the German expressionism that made its mark on visual art and theatre. The asymmetrical geometric sets, the theatrical use of light and shadows and the morbid atmosphere from which paranoia and horror ooze, make this cult classic a surrealist dream. The film gave the German film industry a huge boost after the horrors of World War I, but also hinted at the rise of fascism in the Weimar period and the nightmare that followed.

Dr. Caligari's influence can be seen in countless German films of the interbellum period (Der Golem, Nosferatu, Metropolis,...) but also makes itself felt in later Universal horror classics, the entire film noir genre up to Tim Burton's kitschy gothic, and beyond. The themes of brainwashing and the danger of a charismatic leader without scruples remain painfully relevant to this day. After more than 100 years, Dr. Caligari has lost none of its power and is a must-see for any film fan.

About Jozef van Wissem
Jozef van Wissem is a Dutch lutenist and composer who cannot be pinned down to one genre. If we had to describe it, we would call it avant-garde minimalism with a dash of baroque, but that only covers part of it.

He has gained recognition for his innovative approach towards the “liberation of the lute”, as he describes it. His timeless music is often described as hypnotic, minimal, and hauntingly atmospheric, merging beauty with a dark, meditative edge. His lyrics have a mythical Christian appeal, incorporating themes of love, faith, and the afterlife, often with a repetitive, mantra-like quality. He studied lute in New York with Patrick O’Brien in the 1990s and has since built a career that bridges classical traditions with modern sounds like drones, electronics, field recordings and voice.

He’s a prolific collaborator of filmmaker and musician Jim Jarmusch, including the award-winning soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive, for which Van Wissem won the Cannes Soundtrack Award in 2013. A world tour with Jarmusch and their 5th record THE DAY THE ANGELS CRIED was released on June 6, 2025.

His solo work spans albums like Stations of The Cross (2008) which Wire Magazine labeled a small masterpiece, New Lute Music For Film (2013) and Behold! I Make All Things New (2022), as well as scores for films like Un Prince (2023).

Van Wissem tours extensively, performing in diverse venues from rock festivals to churches, and has worked with artists like Tilda Swinton and Zola Jesus. In 2019 he was commissioned by Cinémathèque française to score the silent horror film Nosferatu (1922). He released the soundtrack in 2022 on his own Incunabulum label. In 2022 four of his compositions including the vocal piece Love Destroys All Evil were featured in HBO’s Irma Vep Series (starring Alicia Vikander). In 2023 Van Wissem scored the Cannes Award winning film Un Prince. His latest projects include the 2024 album The Night Dwells in the Day. In 2024 Van Wissem was commissioned to score the silent film The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1928). In 2026 he will premiere his new live score for The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920), with its avant-premiere at VIERNULVIER and Film Fest Gent’s unique film soundtrack festival ‘VIDEODROOM’ in September 2025.