Exprmntl
EXPRMNTL, also known as the Knokke Experimental Film Festival and Festival du Film Expérimental de Knokke-le-Zoute was a Belgian avant-garde and experimental film festival. It succeeded the Brussels Experimental Film Festival (1947 and 1958) and was held under the EXPRMNTL moniker in 1963 (EXPRMNTL 3), 1967 (EXPRMNTL 4) and 1974 (EXPRMNTL 5). Started as a showcase for experimental film in 1949 as part of a bigger international film festival followed by a second more specific experimental film festival in 1958 as part of the World Exhibition in Brussels.
EXPRMNTL is said to be the most important event that has ever been organized for experimental cinema. The festival organized in Knokke-le-Zoute in Belgium in an empty casino between Christmas and New Year, was a key place for experimental film in the critical period of its development, and almost the only meeting point for avant-garde filmmakers for years, the place where experimental movements connected.
It was conceived and curated by Jacques Ledoux and the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique in Knokke-le-Zoute. Ledoux was, at the time, conservator of the Belgian National Film Archive (also known as the Cinémathèque) in Brussels.
Attendees have included Jonas Mekas and Peter Kubelka, Yoko Ono and Jean-Jacques Lebel, Jack Smith and Martin Scorsese, Holger Meins and Pierre Vermeylen. Also present were Marguerite Duras, Marcel Broodthaers, Roman Polanski, Mauricio Kagel, Michael Snow, Hugo Claus, Pierre Clémenti, Martial Raysse, Nam June Paik, P. Adams Sitney, Jean-Luc Godard and many other "flaming creatures".
In the historical context of the Casino, the programme featuring film screenings, live performances, talks and an exhibition of rare documents related to EXPRMNTL discussing the history and importance of the festival took place on 3 May 2009 in the context of the Internationaal Fotofestival Knokke-Heist, 2009. Curated by Xavier Garcia Bardon. Coordinated by Kevin Decoster. [1]
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