LANDSCHAP VAN KERKEN

Based on the 1987 book with the same title by Geert Bekaert, which explores the enigma of the Belgian historical church buildings. Similarly to the book, this documentary purposes to show these peculiar objects, beyond a merely religious, aesthetic or art-historical interpretation, in all their complexity, as fascinating spatial objects and revealing monuments for contemporary conceptions of the architectonic space. “More than ever Cornelis’s camera hovers through the church buildings. This gliding eye, the ‘entfesselde’ camera, this ‘impossible’ image, was already popular in German expressionist films from the 1920s, like Variété (Dupont/Freund), M by Lang or Letzte Mann by Murnau.” (Mark Holthof)

Content:
00’00" This film is based on the book of the same title by Geert Bekaert. Numerous views of churches ; Sint Amands-berg, Bloedkapel in Bruges, the church in Bertem, Sint Baafs in Gent, Sint Carolus in Antwerp, the basilica at Scherpenheuvel, Vlierbeek Abbey, the basilica Koekelberg. Geert Bekaert’s voice off, reading the commentary. 34’54" Credits.
(Source: Jef Cornelis 1964 - 1990, Espace Art Contemporain : Maison de la culture et de la Communication de Saint-Etienne, 1991)