How a new film club is set up and keeps going
On Monday, October 17, 1949, the first performance of the cinema club Het Linnen Venster took place in the Roxy hall on the Meir (the current C&A). The program included the documentary "Nightmail" by Cavalcanti, Watt and Grierson. In the 1950s, the cinema club Het Linnen Venster would gain an important place in the cultural life of Antwerp. On Saturday, December 3, 1988, some young people commemorated the old film club. "The Nightmail" was again shown in the Archives and Museum for Flemish Cultural Life in the presence of Karel Simons and other prominent figures from Het Linnen Venster. The evening was the starting point for a new film club, Het Kwade Oog.
On January 17, 1989, the Evil Eye officially started. Club room became the auditorium of the Archive and Museum for Flemish Cultural Life. The opening film was "Het Kwade Oog" by Charles Dekeukelaire, from which the new film club took its name. The first half season of Het Kwade Oog exclusively featured Belgian filmmakers: Roland Verhavert, Harry Kümel, Emile Degelin.
On October 16, 1989, Het Kwade Oog opened the new season with a double screening of "Enthousiasme" by Dziga Vertov and "Wavelength" by Michael Snow. Club room remained the AMVC. The programmatic design was extensive: in principle, all films could be discussed, as long as the picture found a passionate supporter in one of the founding club members. The program was the result of cinephile passion.
On September 18, Het Kwade Oog will kick off for the third time. For financial reasons, the club has moved to a room at Calypso Zoo. The short-sighted policy of the Antwerp city council had priced the AMVC out of the market. The third season continues in the same vein as the previous one. Once again the programming was born out of passion. Conservation is also the principle of the event. Each performance of The Evil Eye has the character of a happening, with preliminary and possibly subsequent discussion, with invitees and, if necessary, special musical accompaniment.
Enjoy watching.
