Film Fest Gent and VIERNULVIER present: VIDEODROOM 2022

Le Révélateur - BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE

A brilliant minimalist film that - stripped of almost all narrative - slows down time in a hypnotic way until it just barely stands still.

In Le Révélateur, two young parents and their son move through the darkness, from one space to another, in a desolate and nightmare-like reality. They are escaping, through concrete structures and deserted roads and fields, from an unknown threat that seems omnipresent and unavoidable.

Filmed in Germany a few days after the protests of May 1968, and in the surroundings of a few concentration camps, the film overflows with gloomy symbolism and slumbers between being awake and asleep. It is considered a controversial masterpiece in French experimental cinema.

"We chose 'Le Révélateur' because there are similarities between our music and the film. The simplified aesthetic and the clear spaces conceived by the images of the film ensure that every viewer can make their own statement and find their own emotions in it - just as listeners do with our music.''- Bohren & Der Club of Gore.

Mathilde Fernandez x Promis3

The multi-talented artist Mathilde Fernandez is not only active in the performance and visual arts, but also makes music. After two solo EPs ('Hyperstition' and 'Final Vegas') and a place in the musical ensemble ascendant vierge - which she founded with Paul Seul, known from techno collective Casual Gabberz - she launched her third EP 'Sensible'. Through both electronic and acoustic landscapes Mathilde explores more than ever the intimate and personal, in a universe full of theatrical pop and unrestrained emotions.

The Belgian collective Promis3 has conquered its own place in the cyberpop community. Their fascinating productions, enchanting visuals and eye-catching aesthetics reflect the unique chemistry that exists between band members Andras and Brent. As a duo, they constantly try to push the boundaries of a recognizable, yet confrontational visual identity.

During VIDEODROOM 2022, Mathilde Fernandez will be presenting an impressive audiovisual show, as well as cyber-pop duo Promis3.

DOUBLE BILL

The Shedding of Skin - USE KNIFE

Stef Heeren, Kwinten Mordijck (both known from Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat) and Saif Al-Qaissy (Babylon Trio) can indulge their love for the analogue and modular machinery as Use Knife. Let yourself go and get lost in the groovy Arabic percussion and mesmerizing vocals. The trio worked collaborated with Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem in My Heart, Hotel2Tango) for the production of their debut album 'The Shedding of Skin'.

VIDEODROOM presents the audiovisual album release show. Picture driving electronic beats, sequenced melodies and samples, and lively Arabic drum rhythms. Youniss Ahamad will be responsible for the live visuals and scenography.

'The Shedding of Skin' will be released on the VIERNULVIER Records label on 30 September 2022. Pre-order the album now on the VIERNULVIER Records bandcamp.

DOUBLE BILL

Jerusalem In My Heart & GRID

15.10

Meanwhile, the opener of the evening has also been announced: the audiovisual performance project Jerusalem In My Heart (JIMH). No strangers to the gentlemen of Use Knife, as JIMH band member Radwan Ghazi Moumneh produced The Shedding of Skin. Small world!

Alongside Lebanese-Canadian producer/musician Moumneh, Montreal-based filmmaker Erin Weisgerber is also part of JIMH. They make modern, experimental Arabic music, which they merge with analogue film. They consider the results to be multimedia works of cross-cultural and socio-political artistry.

+++ You can stick around after the double bill! Ghent's non-profit DIY youth collective GRID has created an evening full of bursting beats, razor-sharp visuals and scifi photography. The bill includes Palestinian glitch lord Muqata'a and Tunisian-Brussels genre bender Samar, among others.

Spindle - Oona Libens

19.10

In the new production by visual artist Oona Libens, an omniscient Spider and an artificial intelligence meet. Spindle departs from the link between these two seemingly opposing technologies to explore the symbiosis between nature and digital progress.

For this purpose, the Belgian-Swedish Libens uses both classic as contemporary projection techniques and shadow and light effects. Thus she creates a fleeting, tangible and sometimes faltering universe, which fits perfectly within our VIDEODROOM programme.

Musicians Jürgen De Blonde and Vica Pacheco collaborated on this performance.

Carnival of Souls - MIAUX

Born in Sarajevo, but already living and based in Antwerp for a while now: MIAUX. With her Casio, she creates music that shuffles between minimalistic and melancholic. For this year's VIDEODROOM, she will create a completely new score for the cult film Carnival of Souls, which she will perform live. While in the original score there can be heard church organs, analogue synthesizers are predominant in the score of MIAUX.

Carnival of Souls is an American psychological thriller from 1962, produced and directed by Herk Harvey, with a scenario by John Clifford.

The film, which many considered as a B-film classic, was meant to "look like a Bergman and feel like a Cocteau". This is something in which the film succeeds, with its striking locations and spooky organ score. Harvey used different guerilla filmmaking techniques and shot the film on a modest budget of 33,000 dollars. In 1962, it was released as a double feature with the now almost forgotten The Devil's Messenger. Being Harvey's only feature film, it didn't receive much attention at the time. Yet, this macabre masterpiece acquired a cult status over the years.

Martin Kohlstedt x Son of the White Mare

21.10

The Hungarian fantasy film Son of the White Mare (1981) is considered one of the greatest surrealist animated masterpieces. The film - part Nibelungenlied, part Yellow Submarine - was given a second life thanks to the restored 2019 version.

Creator Marcell Jankovics, who won an Oscar nomination in 1974 for his animated short film Sisyphus, was fortunately able to live to see the revival - he died in May 2021. Son of the White Mare emphasises the magic of old-fashioned hand-drawn animation techniques: Jankovics continued to draw his films on paper until the end of his life.

The German experimental pianist-composer Martin Kohlstedt will perform a new soundtrack to Jankovics' magical film. Kohlstedt creates a range of 'modules'. The arrangement of these modules is influenced by his emotions, the vibes of the audience and the atmosphere in the hall. As a result, no two live concerts are the same. With his modular compositions, Kohlstedt gives a new dimension to classical music: he even gave a TEDx Talk about it.

PAARD. x Line of Scrimmage

22.10

For the project Line of Scrimmage, the Ghent nu-jazz trio PAARD. collaborates with 6 (animation) filmmakers: Sarah Yu Zeebroek, William Massy, Kim Pi Lee, Simon & Vincent Leynen, Anton Cla and Alexander Deprez.

Inspired by the 1968 classic film Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen, the band asked them to create short films on the theme of 'pursuit', to which they will play a unique score live.

The short films range from handmade stop-motion over live action drama to abstract computer visuals. Taking into account PAARD.'s eclectic and unpredictable taste, you can expect a humorous screening full of high energy music!