Belgian Shorts 1: Handmade in Belgium

Just as the country’s politics, its artistic output is lively and often surrealist. Today, animators like Emma de Swaef & Marc Roels continue a long-standing Belgian tradition of surrealism, magic realism and absurdism, without ever losing focus of profound human emotions. And it only seems like yesterday when the late Raoul Servais pioneered the genre in Belgium in the sixties, initiating a separate department for animation film at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent – a first for continental Europe.

Belgium loves to experiment, not just with fries and waffles. In the previous century, artists dabbled with “Ride” movies, 3D projections, and the interplay between live-action and animation. Brussels was once the capital of European animation, housing the largest animation film studio in Western Europe. Despite the country’s modest size, it has produced many a great animation film auteur, who went on to garner acclaim around the world – it feels almost surreal Hollywood has never made a call.

Yet, the Belgian animation scene is notoriously hard to pin down. At first glance, nobody seems to have anything in common … But put two and two together and the connections become apparent: a passion for graphic art deeply rooted in Belgium’s rich pictorial tradition (thank you, Flemish Masters), a nostalgic longing for traditional techniques (especially stop-motion), and humour. Lots of humour, preferably of the most absurd kind. And of course, surrealism is never far from the party, and why would it be? After all, the surrealist art movement practically originated in Belgium. Or did anyone forget about René Magritte and his pipe?

Stop-Motion: Handmade in Belgium

Stop-motion is back (but never really left)! Belgium never stopped loving stop-motion. And how could they, with so much talent in their ranks. This is a collection of recent works by award-winning artists such as Aubier & Patar, Emma de Swaef & Marc Roels, and Nicolas Keppens, among others. As skillful masters of the stop-motion craft and with great wit, they bring their self-made creations to life. And we are just privileged we can witness their small and big battles, not infrequently with themselves.