VLAAMSE CHOC

During the run-up to the June 2004 elections Peter Boeckx follows the doings of Filip Dewinter over several months; the man is one of the heads of Vlaams Belang (formerly Vlaams Blok), the right-extremist political party in Flanders. Peter Boeckx makes clear that his report mainly focuses on the figure of ‘Filip the seducer’. He limits himself to a mere registration of his activities, with his family, his colleagues and his followers. What might turn into a slick portrait soon slips further and further into a wry story. More than once the public-friendly mask is torn, revealing an image of a power-mad person, who has trouble hiding his nostalgia for a brown past. After production, a lot of controversy arose around the report. According to some the portrait of Dewinter was overly human, and therefore dangerous, according to others it was revealing, and so commendable. RTBF, who assigned the report, hesitated for a very long time before they broadcast it, and even then they made sure it was surrounded by a debate. In Flanders hell broke loose when all the major networks declined ‘Vlaamse Choc’. According to some this was a typical example of hypocrisy, since the Flemish media are filled with Dewinter and company’s flirtations with the cordon sanitaire.