Paul Meyer
First feature film from director Guido Henderickx. During a 24-hour period an intense drama unfolds between former lovers during local fair.
The story of a young woman with mental problems told in a non-chronological fashion.
Paul Meyer, an archivist who was always fascinated by his contemporaries, dedicates 8 episodes of the television series Ce pain quotidien to the immigration of foreign workers into Belgium. This series endeavours to touch on all aspects of immigration. In it we discover, among other things, the story of Juan Jiménez, a young man from Andalucía who leaves for Belgium in search of work. The clip shown here is a montage made by Meyer to introduce the series. We find out about Juan's youth and his passage to adulthood on the back of a mule.
A diverse group of people from different nationalities struggle to earn a living in a Belgian coal-mining town. Hoping to find a better life, the dreams are shattered when coal prices hit an all-time low and production wipes out the main industry and livelihood of the workers. This documentary-style film appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in 1963.
Against a backdrop of Gaasbeek castle, the residence of the Count of Egmont, Meyer pays homage to a desire for freedom and a zest for life. The desire for freedom behind the Netherlands' resistance to the Inquisition and the repressive politics of Philipp II and the zest for life shown by the people of the Netherlands. Goethe's text is a fitting accompaniment to this ode to freedom and justice and against cruelty and oppression.
