IMAGES D'OSTENDE

By : Henri Storck

Belgique, 1929, 97 mn
DVD zone 2, N&B,


Not available for sale now


IMAGES OF OSTEND
By : Henri Storck

Belgium, 1929, 97 mn
DVD zone 2, N&B,

Original title: IMAGES D'OSTENDE

1 DVD and 1 Blu-ray
Original version (French and Dutch) subtitled in Dutch and English

In the period between the two World Wars, Ostend was not only a fashionable seaside resort but also a first-rate cultural centre, where painters like Ensor, Labisse, Permeke, and Spilliaert had their residence. Young Henri Storck was inspired by their example, but instead of using a brush he operated a camera. In IMAGES OF OSTEND Storck shows us images of the resort. His camera has registered the waves washing ashore, creating a fascinating interplay of lines with ever-changing patterns.

Henri Storck (Ostend 1907 - Brussels 1999) lived through the whole history of cinema, passing from silent to sound, and from experimental to commercial films. He is recognised as a pioneer of Belgian cinema and a key figure in documentary. An eyewitness of his times, he made socially engaged films, but also poetic and experimental short films, films on art and a fiction feature. His body of work consists of 70 films, including a series of accounts, presented on this DVD, on his native city of Ostend of which he was the chronicler and which remained, for him, the Queen of beaches.

The DVD/Blu-ray contains:
IMAGES OF OSTEND (IMAGES D'OSTENDE, 1929-1930, 11 min.)

Bonus : the following short films:
FISHING FOR HERRING (UNE PECHE AU HARENG, 1930 · 13 min.)
PLEASURE TRAINS (TRAINS DE PLAISIR, 1930 · 8 min.)
A BEACH IDYLLE (UNE IDYLLE A LA PLAGE, 1931 · 23 min.)
OSTEND, QUEEN OF BEACHES (OSTENDE, REINE DES PLAGES, 1931 · 11 min.)
GAMES OF SUMMER AND SEA (LES JEUX DE L'ETE ET DE LA MER, 1936 · 12 min.)
HOLIDAYS (VACANCES, 1938 · 10 min.)
OSTENDE 1930 · editing by Luc De Heusch (2004 · 11 min.)