Underground - Expo 58

The 1958 Brussels World’s Fair included a festival of experimental film. This was the successor to the avant-garde film festival held in Knokke in 1949 under the name EXPRMNTL. Both festivals were organised by Jacques Ledoux, director of the Belgian Cinemathèque.

In 1949, the emphasis was mainly on the pre-war avant-garde and names such as Luis Buñuel and Germaine Dulac, although contemporary American filmmakers were also represented by Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger and Curtis Harrington. In 1958, however, only recent avant-garde and experimental films were shown; a total of 133 films, all of which were made after 1955.

The festival in Brussels was characterised by a clash of two film worlds: European experimental film, still strongly geared to the old avant-garde, versus the new generation of American experimental filmmakers. In 1958, all the awards went to European films – although this turned out to be the swansong of European avant-garde film. The next experimental festivals in Knokke (particularly EXPRMNTL 3 and 4, in 1963 and 1967 respectively) were dominated by American experimental film and the New American Cinema.

Meet the Archive

During Meet the Archive, Senior Curator Rommy Albers will discuss the background to the festival in 1958 and the controversies and traces left by the festivals of 1958, 1963 and 1967 in Western European film archives. And, of course, a selection of highlights from the Eye collection will be screened.