EDITH KIEL & JAN VANDERHEYDEN AND FLEMISH POPULAR CINEMA

One key figure emerged in the early sound era to dominate a nascent Flemish cinema, Jan Vanderheyden realized the commercial and cultural potential of domestic production geared to regional and ethnolinguistic tastes. DE WITTE (WHITEY) was based on a popular picaresque novel by Ernest Claes, whose story concerned a rebellious young man whose heroic fantasies clash with his mundane existence. After securing financial support from banks, he shot the film mostly in Berlin (since no studios yet exited in Flanders), while adding a limited amount of Flemish location work. The dialogue eschewed Flemish dialect in favor of standard Dutch. This charming film would remain the biggest success in Flemish cinema for decades, and enabled the filmmaking team to make nine films in the following five years, using studios in Amsterdam. Their second movie, the romantic operetta ALLEEN VOOR U (ONLY FOR YOU, 1935), was made with the same technical skills. However, it was considered too exotic by film critics. Vanderheyden and Kel opened a studio in Antwerp in 1939, and shifted there focus to concentrate on a series of inexpensively produced, popular films, full of banter, marital disputes and music. SCHIPPERSKWARTIER (THE SAILORS QUARTER, 1953) was their most important post-war success.

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Format: DVD-PAL / Region 0
(No Regional Code)

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WHITEY (DE WITTE)
(Belgium, 1934)

Director: Jan Vanderheyden
Writer: Edith Kiel (based on the novel by Ernest Claes)
Camera: Ewald Daub
Editor: Walter Von Bonhorst
Music: Renaat Veremans
Cast: Jef Bruyninckx, Magda Janssens, Jef Van Leemput sr., Gaston Smet, Nora Oosterwijk, Nand Buyl, Willem Benoy, Willy Cauwenberg

• 103 minutes
• B&W
• Dutch

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ONLY FOR YOU (ALLEEN VOOR U)
(Belgium, 1935)

Director: Jan Vanderheyden
Writer: Edith Kiel & August Monet
Camera: Ewald Daub
Editor: Munni Obal
Music: Rudolf Perak & Renaat Veremans
Cast: Pola Cortez, Germaine Loosveldt, Frits Vaerewijck, Jef Bruyninckx, Nand Buyl, Willem Benoy, Emiel Verbeeck, Jef Van Leemput sr., Elsa Monet

• 87 minutes
• B&W
• Dutch

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THE SAILORS QUARTER (SCHIPPERSKWARTIER)
(Belgium, 1953)

Director/Writer: Edith Kiel
Writer: Edith Kiel & August Monet
Camera: Paul de Fru
Editor: Jef Bruyninckx
Music: Al Van Dam & Jean Evans
Cast: Charles Janssens, René Bertal, Co Flower, Louisa Lausanne, Nini de Boël, Marcel Hendrickx, Piet Bergers, Paul's Jongers, Bruno & Jeaninne Schevernels, Licette Goddéré, Ann De Laet

• 98 minutes
• B&W
• Dutch

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Bonus Material

OUD ANTWERPEN: MUZIKALE INTERMEZZO'S
(Belgium, 2014)

• 36 minutes
• B&W
• Dutch

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Total Running Time: 06:24:00 (2 Discs)

Language: In Dutch with optional English, French & Dutch subtitles

Published By: Cinematek

Institutional Price: $300 (plus shipping)

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