Together with Ostend based Bavo Defurne, we celebrate the sea as a place of escape, adventure, and desire. Spring fever guaranteed.
SAILOR
BAVO DEFURNE — BE, 1998 – video – 17’
A GIRL IN EVERY PORT
HOWARDS HAWKS – US, 1928 – video – 78’
LIVE SOUNDTRACK: NYKOLAES
| 21/03 | 20:00 | KAAP | Ostend |
Known for his poetic and visually rich storytelling, Bavo Defurne’s films are often praised for their painterly compositions and their ability to convey powerful narratives with minimal dialogue and evocative imagery. We are delighted to present one of his early short films, a tender and melancholic story about a boy who falls in love with a sailor.
As the boy explores his emotions—drawn into a spiral of infatuation, admiration, and unspoken longing, the vastness of the sea serves as a symbol of the distance between them. The dreamy cinematography and stunning sets reference homoerotic iconography: Pierre&Gilles, Jim Bidgood, Kenneth Anger, Jean Genet and Fassbinder. To manipulate the images and especially the colors to perfection, Bavo Defurne opted for a cutting-edge digital camera at the time.
At the suggestion of Bavo Defurne, we present A Girl in Every Port directed by Howard Hawks, a sparkling silent comedy about two seasoned sailors. These two men are known for their strong bond, their love of adventure, and the camaraderie that life at sea brings. However, their friendship is put to the test when one of them falls for a woman, played by the incredible Louise Brooks. As they navigate quarrels, romance, and rivalry, their companionship proves to be as enduring as the waves that carry them from port to port.
In both stories, the sea is more than just a setting; it is a force of nature, a constant witness to love and the longing for connection. Whether it’s a glance exchanged on the deck of a ship or a bond forged on a distant shore, these narratives reveal that no matter how far one sails, the heart is always drawn back to the sea.
The film will be accompanied by the wonderful Nykolaes. We are big fans! Expect strange pop, inverted folk, a guitar crying in the distance. Sand between your toes. Sun in your eyes.
SUPPORT — We currently work without subsidies, so your support is more than welcome and literally brings light to the screen:
BE80 7340 4532 5277 BIC: KREDBEBB
Payment reference: ‘Gift’.
Gifts above the sum of € 40 are tax deductible.
A gift of € 100 will only cost you € 55.
Artistic coordination: Anouk De Clercq, Godart Bakkers
General coordination: Ditte Claus
Artistic team: Eric de Kuyper, Xavier Garcia Bardon
Production team: Bob Mees, Jef Declercq, Johan Opstaele, Noah Heylen
Communication: Cynthia Vandenbruaene
Graphic design: Michaël Bussaer. Webdesign: Dominique Callewaert.
With the support of Auguste Orts, CINEMATEK, KAAP, KASK School of Arts Gent, Onderzoeksfonds Universiteit Gent, Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds.
Whoever walks in Ostend today is confronted with a fantastic eclecticism: a brutal grey apartment block exists next to the glorious Thermae Palace. The mighty, almost Stalinist, building of De Grote Post dominates the Hendrik Serruyslaan. A former department store houses a museum for contemporary art. Belle-époque houses are hidden in the quiet but stately streets.
In 2017, one void struck artist Anouk De Clercq: that glorious film culture of Henri Storck, James Ensor or Raoul Servais had disappeared from the streets. With the closure of the Rialto cinema, the last independent cinema from the Ostend cinema circuit also disappeared. Against such an extraordinary backdrop, with the sea as a large projection surface for images, stories and histories, that is such a shame.
And so the idea of Monokino ripens: one room, marked by an equally fantastic eclecticism, where cinema can be itself again. One room where long and short films, film classics, auteur cinema, video art, experimental films, animation, or the work of young makers can find a place. Monokino shows, questions, responds, engages in conversation, invites, welcomes, puts in perspective. Monokino is a place of, by and for people from Ostend, for professionals and enthusiasts, for young and old, for those from here and those from there.
The films that Monokino wants to show don’t only live on the screen. They also spread between residents, spectators, and makers. In that sense, Monokino is also Kopfkino: a mental cinema, where images get the chance to live and multiply.
That’s how Monokino drifts nomadically through those eclectic streets of Ostend and settles in the heads and hearts of the people of Ostend. Soon it’ll moor for good.
Monokino wants to drive cinema into the 21st century and illuminate the adventurous side of film. While we strive for a permanent place as anchorage for cinefiles from Ostend and beyond, Monokino operates as a nomadic film platform.
The sea is Monokino’s favourite projection surface for images, stories and histories. In anticipation of our next screening, we’ve started to collect a list of films in which the sea plays a main or supporting role. Can you think of a film that’s not already on our list? We’d love to hear about it via info@monokino.org.
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