James Ensor in Oostende, ca. 1920

James Ensor in Oostende, ca. 1920

2000
2m
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Overview

In 2000, which was ‘Ensor Year’, the installation artist Guillaume Bijl made a short fictitious found-footage film entitled ‘James Ensor in Oostende ca. 1920’, which shows the painter at this resort with his friends. We see them having a drink, strolling in the arcades of the Thermae Palace and sitting on the beach. Bijl’s meticulous choice of locations, belle époque dress (including bathing costumes) and his cinematographically perfect imitation of the rather jerky black & white images, as well as the patina and the perfectly imitated scratches on the film emulsion, all resulted in a perfect replica: an apparently forgotten roll of film from the days of silent film. Bijl himself classifies this faultless slice of life, one of his rare excursions into film and video, under ‘cultural tourism’, one of the elements of his work in which he popularizes cultural history subjects and reduces them to clichés for the general public.

Status: Released

Language: NL

Production Information

Production Countries
Belgium

Quick Facts

Release Date June 25, 2000
Status Released
Language NL
Website Visit Site

Cast

Xavier Tricot
Xavier Tricot

Sailor

Jos Hofmans
Jos Hofmans

James Ensor

Lieve Lambrecht
Lieve Lambrecht

Friend of Ensor's

Sylvia Luyckx
Sylvia Luyckx

Friend of Ensor's

Chris Straetling
Chris Straetling

Friend of Ensor's

Key Crew

Guillaume Bijl
Director
Guillaume Bijl
Writer